Crescent Calling

by Nicole R. Taylor

  My hand shook, and I took a step toward it, raising the athame ready to stab. The craglorn must have had enough intelligence left to sense what I was about to do, and it wailed and backed away, but it smacked into the edges of the web and bounced back toward me.

  Turning, it focused on me, snapping its jaws. I hadn’t noticed before, but its teeth were long and pointed, its gums receding away from the roots, exposing more sharp and pointy chompers. Great, as if the claws weren’t enough, it had to go and have razor-sharp teeth, as well!

  It lunged, taking one step, then another, and I lifted the dagger, my fear wrestling with my resolve. Faltering, I slipped and fell, landing on my back, and the wind rushed out of my lungs. The craglorn leaped, and a red streak slammed into its side, forcing it to fly to the left and tumble through the leaf litter. Boone!

  Scrambling backward, I pushed to my feet just as a yelp tore through the air. The craglorn tossed the fox aside as if he was nothing, and Boone somersaulted across the clearing. Over and over he rolled until he came to a stop and lay still.

  There was blood. Lots of blood and my heart tore in two. No!

  Chapter 19

  “Boone!”

  The craglorn’s head twisted toward me, the hunger in its eyes chilling. It had hooked its claws into Boone’s fox shape like he was nothing, tearing his flesh and tossing him aside like he was a rag doll.

  It didn’t want him. It wanted me. I was more powerful.

  My aura was dripping with the magic it needed so desperately in order to survive. It was facing death, and killing me would save it.

  Its biggest problem was the fact I wanted to live, too.

  The cry of pain that burst from Boone stuck in my heart, and I roared, holding the athame high.

  “You don’t belong here!” I boomed, calling on my magic. “Your time has passed!”

  I felt the legacy of the Crescent Witches burning through my veins, and the power I’d tapped into while in the clutches of the sluagh felt nothing like it did now. It was so much more. It was a hot pool of liquid fire rushing around my body, the entire strength of the coven behind me. I was alone here in this clearing, but with the hawthorn behind me, I could feel each and every ancestor reaching out to help me realize one important thing.

  They’d been with me all along. Before, after, and in between, Aileen had never left me because it was my legacy. We were a part of something bigger than ourselves. We were Crescent Witches. The most badass witches to have ever walked the earth.

  I was a glowing beacon of golden light as I collided with the stunned craglorn. We tumbled across the clearing, colliding with the web and bouncing back with a crash.

  I didn’t care about its nasty talons that were longer than my forearm. I didn’t care about the saliva dripping from its razor-sharp teeth. I cared that it had hurt Boone. I cared that after it was done with me, it would go through Derrydun and tear apart my friends.

  With a roar, I raised the athame and struck, forcing the lifeblood of the land and the light of the Crescent Witches into the monster’s heart.

  The blade sank into its chest, slicing through its flesh like butter. It wailed, and its eyes widened as it realized the end had come. One slice from the athame and the spell took hold, searing into the craglorn’s body like a white-hot flame.

  I fell backward, scrambling to get out of the way of swiping claws as the creature writhed. Its cries of torment ripped the air apart, and I slapped my hands over my ears to block it out.

  Its knees buckled, and it fell to the ground, thrashing as thin tendrils of smoke rose from the knife protruding from its chest. Horrified, I was frozen to the spot, my eyes glued to the death throes of the fae. Its thousand years of torment were finally over, but it didn’t make it any easier to watch. Death was not easy—not for me.

  Finally, its cries dulled, its movements stilled, and all fell silent. That was how I heard the craglorn exhale for the last time. The soft sigh lingered on the air, chilling me to the bone.

  It was dead, but at what cost?

  “Boone!”

  Skidding across the clearing, I fell to my knees next to the fox. His eyes were glassy, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, his chest heaving with quick breaths. Blood matted his fur, the sight of the gash in his side making me feel sick to the stomach.

  “Change back,” I pleaded. “Please…”

  He lifted his head slightly, his gaze meeting mine, and I knew. He was stuck in his fox form, too weak to shift back.

  What was I supposed to do? Panic began simmering as I ran my fingers through his fur. Who could help me heal a seriously wounded fox? It wasn’t like I could take him to the vet.

  Even as I thought about it, I knew there wasn’t anyone to turn to. It was just him and me. My mistake had brought this down on us. Boone was going to bleed out, and it was all my fault.

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured, tears burning my eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

  Behind us, the bloodied remains of the craglorn began to sizzle and spit, but I didn’t care. Placing my hands gently over the jagged wound in Boone’s side, I called on my magic.

  “I’m going to heal you,” I whispered. “I don’t care what it takes. I’m going to save you.”

  He was too weak to respond, and I could already feel his life slipping away. I’d faltered… It was all my fault. Everything was my fault.

  Ignoring my tears, I focused on the ball of golden light in my belly and willed it into Boone.

  I imagined his flesh knitting back together, veins repairing themselves and blood flowing along them. I begged his muscles to meld and twine, bridging the gap the craglorn’s talons had rent in his side. I asked his bones to join hands and become one. I asked him to live because I needed him more than anyone.

  Come back…

  Heal…

  Be well…

  It’s not your time…

  Come back to me…

  There was golden light everywhere. It warmed my belly, spreading through my heart and into my limbs before filling my fingertips. Boone whimpered softly, his feet twitching, but I didn’t stop.

  Heal, I thought. Heal and be well.

  I had no idea if it was working, but my hands were hot, my magic pouring from me into him. Something had to be happening because I felt like fainting. My vision blurred, but I forged on, desperate to bring him back.

  Finally, I faltered, my hands slipping and my body slackening. The world spun, and the golden light dimmed, then…

  Darkness.

  I fell through time and space.

  There was no beginning or end, no pain or exhaustion. There just…was.

  I was standing in a garden, but the light was weird as if I were looking at the world through a yellow filter. The sky was orange, the grass was purple, and the flowers were pink. The path I stood on was bright yellow, and I began to wonder if I’d fallen through some kind of portal to OZ, and I was off to see the wizard.

  The athame was heavy in my hand, and I held onto it like it was a lifeline. Maybe it was. Maybe it had been the key all along. The key to what, I didn’t know.

  “Boone?” I called out, my voice muffled. “Are you here?”

  “He is not.”

  I turned sharply, holding out the athame to protect myself.

  I came face-to-face with a woman, and my breath caught. She was as tall as I was, slender with big green eyes and black hair that flowed over her shoulders and down her back. Her dress was a brilliant green, its style medievalesque, but it bore no lace or beads.

  A sense of déjà vu washed over me, and I lowered the blade, my mouth dropping open. Was it her? Was it Aileen? I hardly dared to hope.

  “Aileen?”

  “She is not here,” the woman replied. “She has not arrived.”

  “Arrived where?” I frowned, not understanding a single thing about this place.

  “It is too soon,” she said with a smile. “You must go back. You don’t belong here.” She wrapped her hands around mine and pre
ssed the athame flush against my chest. “There is still much to be done.”

  “I don’t understand,” I murmured, my head spinning. Her hands were cold as ice. “Where am I?”

  “You will understand in time,” the woman replied, letting my hands go. “Now go. Your friends await.”

  She turned, her black hair fluttering and her dress twirling. I watched her walk away, already forgetting the image of her face. It was fading along with everything else.

  “Wait!” I cried.

  The woman glanced over her shoulder. “You must go back.”

  “I don’t understand…” I moaned as my knees buckled. “Who are you…”

  You must go back…

  Chapter 20

  I gasped, my eyes snapping open.

  “Skye?”

  Boone was beside me, his fingers combing through my hair.

  “You’re…” My throat was dry, and my head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton wool…and ached, to boot.

  “I’m here,” he murmured, smoothing my tangled hair back off my face. “I’m fine.”

  It was dark out, though the room was filled with a warm orange glow. Lamplight. A soft pillow was under my head, and a warm blanket lay over me. Turning my head, I saw the athame on the bedside table.

  “Where am I?”

  “You’re at the cottage in your bed,” he said. “You’ve been sick.”

  “Sick?” I screwed up my face. “I don’t… I don’t remember.”

  “You’ve been asleep for three days. You had a fever,” he whispered. “Everyone’s worried about you, you know. That’s a sign.”

  “For what?”

  “That you’re one of us. Derrydun has claimed you, I’m afraid. You’re stuck with us.”

  “Great.” I was stuck the moment I’d arrived, but now it wasn’t such a burden. Now it was home.

  I screwed up my eyes, my mind still clinging onto the strange dreams I’d had. Images appeared and dissolved into nothingness, the details fading the longer I was awake.

  “I…” My throat was dry. “I placed my hands on you and… There was… The craglorn… She…”

  I shook my head, trying to reach for a memory I knew was there but was forever out of my reach. I was beginning to understand how Boone felt about his unknown past now. He lived with this?

  “You healed me,” he murmured. “I was able to change back, but you collapsed. ’Twas foolish, but I’m glad.”

  Magic took a toll. He’d told me the day I made the talisman in the shadow of the tower house. I’d only taken a nap then, but I must’ve used a great deal of power to bring him back.

  “I don’t care,” I said, trying to sit. All my joints were stiff, and my stomach rolled, making it a difficult endeavor. “Okay, maybe I care a little.”

  “Careful… You still need to get your strength back.”

  “What happened to the craglorn?” I remembered stabbing it, the death throes, and… After I’d laid my hands on Boone, I couldn’t remember anything.

  “It melted away,” he replied. “It’s gone.”

  Of course. Saeclum naeniam was an incantation for the subiit deserta. A spell to dissolve the forlorn. Turned out it was a very handy trick when it came to the body disposal part of the to-do list.

  “I didn’t know it would be like that,” I said, sorrow creeping into my heart.

  “Like what?”

  “It used to be a person. It had a face and a name just like you and me.”

  “It was a fae, Skye,” Boone replied. “But that was a long time ago. Whoever it was wasn’t inside anymore.”

  I suppose he was right, but I still mourned its passing and the life it had before the doorways were sealed. To think it was once a creature of beauty. A fae, clear and bright as a summer’s day, mysterious and magical.

  “It’s been quiet ever since,” he said, preempting my thoughts. “Nothin’ stirs. Nothin’ watches.”

  “Maybe I scared them all away.”

  “Aye, I think you have.”

  “So, you can leave the boundary now,” I said. “Nothing came for you.”

  “Nothin’ came because I was with you,” he replied. “I see it now.”

  “You seem so certain,” I murmured.

  “Of what?”

  “That I’m some powerful savior come to set you free. I’m just a woman.”

  He grinned as if he knew a secret I didn’t, his lip pulling up on one side more than the other. It was his other trademark to go along with his red and black checkered shirt. His roguish smile.

  “You are a woman, Skye, it’s hard not to notice, but you’re much more than ‘just.’ You aren’t a Crescent Witch. You’re the Crescent Witch.”

  “Stop trying to flatter me.” I rolled my eyes. “I stink, my hair is all knotted, and I need to pee, like, really bad.”

  “Would you like a hand?”

  “I can pee on my own thanks.”

  He snorted and shifted his weight on the mattress. I was glad he was here even if his devotion was starting to scare me a little. So much had happened since I arrived in Derrydun, and most of it I still didn’t understand. Not really. There was still a long road ahead of us, and it would take a lifetime to traverse if we ever reached the end at all.

  “You know,” I began as I sat up, my head swimming. “I didn’t really believe it all until I stood face-to-face with the craglorn. Not really.”

  “Even after I accidentally fell asleep on the end of your bed?” He bit his lip, trying to stop a devilish smile from spreading across his face.

  “Stop it.” I slapped his arm. “I’m serious. It’s all so…fantastical, and I kind of accepted it as logic. I went along without questioning and…” Got us into a heap of unnecessary trouble.

  “Deep down, I think you knew,” Boone declared. “That’s why it was so easy for you. Your heart knew who you were even if your mind took some time to catch up.”

  “That’s deep.”

  “It’s what I believe.”

  Sighing, I leaned my cheek against his shoulder. When he kissed the top of my head, I shivered, remembering his declaration in the clearing. My heart belongs to you, Skye Williams. Whether you want it or not.

  Oh, I wanted it. Bad.

  “This is just the beginning, isn’t it?” I murmured.

  “Aye.” His arm circled my back and held me close.

  “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “I’m glad you’re back.”

  The battle with the craglorn was a skirmish on the edges of a brewing war. The mysterious witch Carman was the beginning and end. If I was going to do anything, I would hunt down her ass and hand it to her on a silver platter. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.

  I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, but a girl could hope. Magic was deceptive, its illusions and twists and turns were never ending. It was a harsh lesson to learn, but I knew it was better to face it now rather than later when it mattered the most. There was more to be revealed, but in the meantime, I hoped there would be a little peace and quiet in Derrydun. We’d earned it. Last thing I wanted was chaos when I felt like a pile of…

  “Irish Moon!” I exclaimed, kicking my legs free of the blankets. “Mairead’s going to kill me!”

  “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Boone said with a chuckle. “Mairead stepped up and took charge.”

  “She what?” I stared at him blankly.

  “She might try to trick you and negotiate for a bigger bonus,” he added. “But I’ve already taken care of it, so don’t listen to her.”

  “What do you mean, you took care of it?” He did have a million jobs and nowhere to spend his money. I would have to pay him back. There was no way in hell I was going to owe money to a tabby cat.

  “I know she has a crush on me,” he said sheepishly. “So I let her make a bargain.”

  “You knew?” I gasped. “All this time? And you played dumb?”

  He nodded and scratched his head, his curly hair falling into
his eyes like a shield, but it wasn’t going to save him.

  My mouth fell open. “Boone, tell me you didn’t… You better not have…”

  “Aye,” he said. “I gave her a kiss.”

  The last sound anyone heard at the end of this crazy story was my scream as it tore through Aileen’s cottage, bounced around Derrydun, and echoed across the hills of Ireland.

  Boone was in so much trouble.

  Chapter 21

  A Little More…

  Deep in the woodland west of Derrydun, the earth began to stir.

  Something had happened during the night to unsettle the forest and the creatures that lived in it. Deer huddled closer to their mates, badgers trod gently, birds retired to their nests, mice stayed in their burrows, and foxes ceased their hunting. They all listened to the moon, the first crescent of a new cycle hanging overhead.

  The air had changed because something had arrived. Something they’d been waiting for.

  A fat, brown toad hopped across a clearing and settled on a rock, its beady eyes watching. The earth was moving, the mass of brambles in the center of the hollow shuddering.

  The toad’s throat expanded and contracted as it croaked, waiting for whatever was on its way to arrive. It was hungry, and a big, juicy worm would fill its belly.

  The ground heaved once more, and among the twisting roots, the surface broke, but it wasn’t a worm. Not at all.

  The toad let out a loud ribbit and leaped from the rock, hopping into the forest and away from danger.

  The ground stirred one last time, and something appeared—a finger—clawing its way to freedom.

  Continue the Crescent Witch Chronicles with Skye’s journey in book two, Crescent Prophecy.

  Keep reading for a sneak peek!

  Thank you for reading Crescent Calling!

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