by K E O'Connor
I stood firm. “Not until you tell me what you got off that skull. Do you know who infused it with magic?”
Silvaria growled at me, then shoved me toward the door. “I should have paid attention to the gossip, but I never like it when people talk badly of others. I’ve had enough of that myself to last a lifetime.”
“What do you mean? Gossip about me?”
“I was an idiot. Everything I’ve heard about you is true.” She shoved me out the door so hard, I almost lost my balance and hit the dirt.
Whatever she’d felt in that skull had made her angry, but it was more than that. When I looked closely, there was fear flickering in Silvaria’s eyes.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you do. You must be able to feel it.” She pointed at the bag.
“Feel what?”
Silvaria shook her head as she backed away. “The magic in that skull. It belongs to you.”
Chapter 17
I stared at Silvaria, my mouth open. I was so shocked my whole body shuddered. “The magic in the skull has nothing to do with me.”
“I know Ash witch magic when I feel it, and it’s buried deep in that skull. I don’t know what you expected me to do. Were you hoping I wouldn’t be able to detect it?”
“No! Because there’s nothing to detect. Not from me, anyway.”
“What did you plan to do next? Place the skull in the village water supply so it infected everyone with your darkness?”
“I’d never do that. I’m trying to help.”
“You used me to make sure nothing could be traced back to you. If I couldn’t sense your power in that skull, no one would be able to. You’d have gotten away with it.”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong. Touch the skull again. You’ll realize the magic isn’t mine.” I went to grab the skull from the bag, but Silvaria hissed at me.
“Keep your toxic magic away from me. And get out of my cemetery. You’ve been behind everything that’s gone wrong in this village all this time. You came back here to have another go at taking control and ruining people’s lives. You won’t succeed. We’re on to you this time.”
I staggered back as if she’d punched me. “That’s not true. I... I just want a quiet life.”
“A quiet life,” she said in a mocking tone. “I hate being deceived. I almost trusted you and thought you were trying to do the right thing. I’m reporting this to the Magic Council. And you’ll have nowhere to hide now. They’ll know you’re here, and without your disguise, they’ll arrest you.”
I took a step back and sucked in a breath. “Silvaria, you have to believe me. I—”
“No, I don’t. You’d better start running. You’ve messed with my cemetery for the last time.” She slammed the door in my face.
I stared at the closed door, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest. I couldn’t be involved with this. This magic wasn’t mine, was it?
I dumped the contents of the bag on the ground and stared at the skull. “What did you do to Silvaria? Why did you make her think my magic is involved with this darkness?”
As usual, the skull didn’t speak.
My throat was tight and my vision hazed. Was I involved with this and didn’t realize? Other villagers were struggling with memory loss, and it wouldn’t be the first time dark magic had used me. Was this whole thing a setup? I’d been guided back here by the very darkness I’d been trying to escape from since I was a teenager.
Had it brought me back after Magda died, and lured me in with the promise of home, friends, and familiars? It made me care about things, and all this time, it was using me to put the final nail in the coffin for Witch Haven.
I gritted my teeth, my hands clenched as my breath rasped out of me. Everything I loved was slipping through my fingers. And now this. I was so done with being messed around.
I jabbed a finger at the skull. “This is your fault.” I raised my foot and brought my heel down on the middle of the skull.
It rolled away, completely unharmed. A curl of black smoke rose from the mouth of the skull. The smoke drifted to about the height of my waist and then faded on the breeze.
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got? Why aren’t you conjuring up werewolves or vampires to take me out? You’re not so strong now I know what you’re playing at.” I whirled around as a low, pained groan reached my ears.
The light dimmed in the cemetery as black clouds poured across the sky and lightning flickered around me.
I gulped. Maybe I’d spoken too soon.
There was a shuffling, scratching noise coming from all around me. I hurried toward the graves to see hands poking out of the mud. Oh, crud. Rather than destroying the magic in that skull, I’d simply triggered it and woken the cemetery residents again.
The door to Silvaria’s shed slammed open. She raced out, a shovel in her hands. She looked around, her eyes wide. “You’re unbelievable! I’ve just got everyone settled.”
“This has nothing to do with me. I mean, I did kick the skull, so it’s not happy with me. It’s the skull doing this.”
“Why did you kick it if you knew it would aggravate the dead?”
“I didn’t know this would happen. I wanted to destroy it, but it wouldn’t break.” I looked around as the corpses slowly rose. “I think I unleashed something.”
“You unleashed your evil magic into my corpses.” Silvaria swung the shovel at me. “If I had any doubts you were behind this, I have none now. Get out of here before you release even more problems.”
I grabbed the skull and backed away. I slammed into a corpse, and it wrapped its bony arms around me and squeezed.
I squeaked and wriggled out of its grip, before charging away. I didn’t get far before I hit a wall of angry corpses.
“Get her!” Silvaria yelled. “She’s the one disturbing your slumber. Kill the witch!”
Why did people keep yelling that at me? I wasn’t a bad witch. Not deliberately.
I dodged around another corpse and headed to the gate, but I was too slow, and the way out was blocked by swaying, moaning bodies.
What I wouldn’t give to have a fang wielding spider, an awesome crow, and a snarky cat by my side to take this lot out.
I blasted some of the corpses out of my way, but more filled the gap. I slowed as I got nearer the gate. The corpse blockade was too dense to get through.
I turned, almost running straight into another corpse. I dodged around it and bolted across the cemetery. There had to be another way out.
I made it part of the way around the perimeter, before I realized I was being followed.
The corpses I’d awakened looked intent on murder as they loped after me, body parts going flying as they picked up speed.
I blasted a few more away and spotted a large crypt that I hoped was empty. I tugged open the heavy stone door, looked inside, and breathed out a sigh of relief. No one was home. They were probably already shambling around the cemetery.
I shut the door behind me and leaned on it as I got my breath back.
I dropped the skull and kicked it away. I was still reeling over Silvaria’s revelation. She couldn’t be right. Ash witch magic wasn’t behind this.
Ash witches were good witches. My line of magic users was known for standing up for the weak and making sure justice was served. We weren’t vengeful witches, and we always made sure the bad guys got what they deserved.
And it was only me left. Unless I’d been given a complete memory wipe and dark magic controlled me, I hadn’t done this to the bones. I wasn’t the one who’d cursed the corpses and made them rise. But if this magic was from the Ash witch line, it had to be me. There was no one else who could have done it.
I cautiously picked up the skull and placed it on top of the tomb in the center of the crypt. I had to know the truth. Was my magic causing all this trouble?
I stroked my hands across the amethyst necklace I wore, thinking about Magda, her warm, co
mforting power, and everything she’d done that was good in this world.
The necklace warmed reassuringly beneath my fingers.
I settled my panicked mind and focused on the skull. “You will reveal your secrets to me.” I held my hands over it and let my magic pulse out in a solid wave.
Nothing happened. The skull didn’t wobble or smoke. It remained still.
I took a couple of deep breaths, rolled my shoulders, and tried again. This time, I removed my gloves and pressed both hands on either side of the skull. My skin sizzled, but I kept my hands clamped around it.
“Reveal yourself.”
The skull shook.
“Give up your secrets. Who is behind this corpse trouble?” I blasted more magic into the skull, the necklace growing uncomfortably warm against my skin.
It wobbled and bucked beneath my hand and then shot off the tomb. I ducked as it whizzed around like an out-of-control broomstick.
The skull stopped in the middle of the crypt, hovering several feet off the ground. Then it began to spin and hum, getting so fast it was just a blur.
The air heated and my ears popped.
It was like a bomb blast went off. The door blew off the crypt as a flare of magic shot out of the skull and swept across the cemetery and beyond the wall.
I glanced around, and my eyes widened. “I don’t believe it. How did you survive that?”
The skull was still in one piece on the ground.
Something brushed against my collarbone, and I looked down to see my necklace had been destroyed.
“No!” My heart froze for a second. I needed that necklace. It helped me to control my magic and become strong again. Without it, I was the same failed witch I’d been when I’d returned to Witch Haven.
I dropped to my knees and pressed my head against the side of the tomb. I wanted to give up. My magic was weak, the skull was taunting me, and the corpses were coming for me. Everything I tried to do to stop this dark magic had the opposite effect. And I had no clue what I’d just unleashed on the village, but the spell that had shot out of the skull had power behind it.
I jerked my head up and jumped to my feet. The sound of groaning corpses outside was getting nearer, but that wasn’t all I could hear. The lid on the tomb was opening.
I instinctively reached for my necklace, but I had nothing to fall back on.
Silvaria appeared in the doorway of the crypt. Her chest was heaving and mud was smeared down one side of her face. “What did you do?”
I puffed out a sigh. “The skull sent out a magic blast.”
“No kidding. All my dead are rising, and they’re raging mad. They want blood.” She lifted an injured hand to me.
I glanced at the lid of the crypt as it continued to slide open. “It’s not safe to stay in here.”
“And it’s dangerous out there.” Silvaria shot a thumb over her shoulder. “Nowhere is safe, thanks to you.”
“Let’s get out in the open. I don’t want to be trapped in here with whatever’s coming out of this tomb.”
Silvaria grimaced at the sound of stone grinding together. “You’re right there. The magic user inside that tomb won’t be happy he’s been woken after three hundred years on his back.”
I grabbed the skull and hurried out with Silvaria.
The corpses were wandering around, not looking happy. Several of them turned in our direction, but they weren’t what caught my attention. I grabbed Silvaria’s arm.
She shook me off and tutted. “Stay away from me. I don’t want to be polluted by your magic.”
I pointed at the cemetery gates. “You don’t have to worry about me. It’s them you have to be concerned about.”
Coming through the gates were a horde of angry villagers, and they were heading straight for me.
“Oh, no! This mess has nothing to do with me. I won’t be held responsible for this.” Silvaria backed away. “You caused this chaos, you have to pay for what you’ve done.”
“Silvaria! Don’t you dare. You can’t leave me again,” I said.
“Sorry, witch. It’s every cemetery guardian for herself. You’re on your own.” Silvaria clicked her fingers and disappeared.
I glanced around, looking for an escape route, but there was nowhere to go. I had corpses at my back and villagers at my front. And it looked like the whole village had descended upon the cemetery, and they all had evil intent in their eyes as they raced toward me.
Among the crowd, I spotted Odessa and Storm. I raised a hand to wave them over, but then lowered it. They were yelling and seemed as angry as everyone else.
A blur of blackness shot past my head, and I ducked. It was Russell, and he was attacking me.
This was too much. My friends and familiars now wanted me dead.
“Grab the witch,” someone yelled. “Don’t let her get away.”
No one was grabbing me. I was done with being drugged, yelled at, almost flambéed, and accused of things I hadn’t done.
My friends may have given up on me, but I wasn’t giving up on them. I just needed more power so I could destroy the source of this darkness.
I ran toward Odessa and Storm, knocking other villagers out of the way, and blasting any with magic that got too close and threatened me.
Although the villagers were all angry, there was also a heady mix of fear in the group. No one wanted to be the first to attack me, but once the spells started flying, I was done for.
I was glad no one wanted to make the first move. It bought me a little time. Time to try something I had no idea would work.
Storm snarled as she got closer. Odessa was right beside her, and I was shocked to see the furious expression on her face. Odessa didn’t do angry.
“Come and get me,” I yelled at them. I had to believe that whatever spell had them in its thrall, my real friends were still in there, and they’d be able to help me.
I dodged past several villagers and led Storm and Odessa away from the largest group. Once we were out of striking distance of any other villager or corpse, I turned and stopped, waiting until we were face-to-face.
“Stop running from us!” Odessa panted out. “You have to pay.”
“I’m paying for nothing. I know you hate me right now, and just like everyone else, you want me dead. But I need you to do one thing for me. Call it a last request.”
“All you need to do is die,” Odessa said.
Storm nodded and cracked her knuckles.
“And if this doesn’t work, then I will be dead. I promise, I won’t fight you if you want to kill me. I’ll stand here and take it.”
They exchanged a glance.
“Is this a trick?” Storm said.
“No trick. Well, it is a spell. Get ready.” I tossed the skull in the air, unleashed a binding spell that grabbed Storm and Odessa, and wrapped them in a huge hug, just as the skull fell between us, trapping it between our chests.
“What are you doing?” Storm struggled in my grip. Her icy magic sparked between us, but I kept the binding spell tight, so she couldn’t move.
“You always say we’re stronger together. Our friendship can best anything, including this dark magic.” I dug my fingers into their arms, not letting them free.
“You’ll be so sorry when I get free. I’ll set all my scarecrows on you.” Odessa twisted and bucked against my magic.
“You’d better explain yourself,” Storm growled. “I don’t mind getting a little frost burn by using my magic when we’re so close.”
“I’ll tell you what we’re doing. We’re destroying this skull and all the darkness in it. We’re setting you, the villagers, and the corpses free.”
Chapter 18
Storm simply glared at me, while Odessa made protest noises as I tightened the binding spell. A quick look around showed the villagers were closing in, but no one was throwing out the first spell. Maybe they wouldn’t cast any magic for fear of hurting Storm and Odessa. But soon enough, someone would take the risk.
“The only d
ark thing in this place is you,” Storm said.
“Focus on the skull. That’s the problem, not me. That’s what’s making you want to kill me.”
“This skull is the source of your power?” Storm said.
“Not my power. Storm, sense the magic. That isn’t my magic. You know what my power feels like.”
“I don’t feel so good,” Odessa said. “I think Indigo is killing me.”
“No! It’s not me. And you won’t die.” At least, I hoped no one was about to die, although the odds weren’t in my favor.
“Let us go!” Storm yelled in my face.
Her magic fired between us, and I gasped as an icy pain rammed into my stomach. But I wasn’t giving up on them. Even as my fingers numbed and my breath plumed out of me in chilled blasts, I had to keep fighting to get through to my closest friends.
My body shuddered as Storm’s magic kept hitting me. “Storm, stop! It’s the skull. That’s the problem.”
Odessa jerked in my grip and then groaned, her head dropping down so her chin hit her chest.
“Odessa, fight this magic. I unleashed something from the skull and it’s affecting everyone. You’re stronger than that and you can fight it,” I said. “Think about all the amazing things in your life. Your farm. Your scarecrows. Your amazing pumpkin treats. And your friends. Think about us.”
“Stop messing with her,” Storm snapped. “We know the truth about you now.”
“No, you don’t. But I have a feeling you soon will. And if you don’t figure this out, then I’m dead. Sense my magic. It isn’t coming from the skull.” I tightened the binding spell until our faces were squashed together and the skull dug into my chest.
Odessa tried to raise her head, but she was squeezed so tightly against me, she could barely move. “Indigo! What... what are you doing?”
“I’ve no clue.” I said, my mouth jammed right by her ear.
“Why are we all squished up like this?”
My heart pattered out a little hopeful beat. That sounded more like the old Odessa. “Are you back? How do you feel about me?”