“It’s possible,” Catherine said. “But he’s been up to no good for quite some time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who was seeking the magic from the talisman in the first place.”
I was stunned. Mr. Braud was a jerk and had never cared for our family, but he never struck me as the power-hungry type or one to seek out dark magic.
“I’m confused,” I said. “What’s he been doing that’s so out of the ordinary for him? Sure, he’s an ass, but dark magic?”
“Look, Abby,” Catherine piped in, “we didn’t want to tell you because we didn’t have definitive proof, but he was seen in the French Quarter with several rogue vampires. One of which Danielle confirmed that she killed the other night. The very same vampire who was possessed by a dark spirit.”
“Are you saying he could be the one helping Marcus possess these vampires and helping him build a demon army? Holy shit! When did this happen?”
“Abby, language please. It’s been a long night and the mouths on you girls make my ears bleed. Give it a rest,” Mom said, folding her arms and shaking her head.
“Sorry, Mamma,” I said, then looked back to Catherine and asked for her to continue.
“It was about three or four weeks ago,” she said and my heart skipped a beat. Catherine had to be right. That was just before we killed the soul-sucking demon, then Marcus stole the talisman. The timeline added up perfectly.
Danny was completely silent, taking it all in. I could see by the expression on his face that his mind was racing and had most likely come to the same conclusion as I just did. I entwined my fingers in his.
“I can tell by the look on your face that it all makes sense now,” Danielle said. “Those infected bloodsuckers had to have come from either Marcus, Mr. Braud, or both.”
“Yeah, but there’s more,” I said. “How many of you saw a man and woman in the attic with Marcus when we performed the spell?”
Everyone looked around at each other and shrugged. “I did,” Liz called out from the shattered remains of the shelf.
“Me too,” Danielle said, raising her hand.
“Anyone else?” I asked looking at the remaining witches in the room.
They all shook their heads and seemed confused by this revelation.
“Abby, what did you see, exactly?” Mom asked, concern etching her face.
I shifted to the side. My feet were killing me. “The man’s and woman’s faces were blurred, but Marcus was speaking to the woman. He seemed angry. That’s about all I know. I couldn’t make them out. The woman’s face was just beginning to come into focus, then the vision cleared.”
“Well, this certainly changes things up a bit,” Allison said. “We know Francesca was spying on us in the Hallow, so that crosses her off the list of suspects for the woman. But the man? Harold or Roger? It has to be one or the other. Did either of them look to be in distress?” She crossed her arms and looked toward me, but seemed to be thinking of something else.
“Not that I’m aware of. As I said, their images were fuzzy.”
Danny cleared his throat. “It’s getting late. Do you mind if we head out and finish this in the morning? I want to find my dad as soon as possible.”
Genevieve and Liz approached just as Mom was about to answer. “Mom, it’s all cleaned up and I agree with Danny,” Liz said. “We have to wake up at zero dark thirty and devise a plan as soon as possible.”
“I spoke with Elizabeth and as you know, Jaqueline, you have my entire coven willing to help at a moment’s notice,” Genevieve remarked, clasping Mom’s hands in her own. “We overheard everything and are in complete agreement.”
“It’s settled then. Catherine, Allison, you’re welcome to stay at our home tonight if you wish,” Mom suggested. “It’s far too late and the two of you must be exhausted.”
“It’s a good thing we brought a change of clothes just in case things got a little messy tonight,” Allison agreed with a smile.
“Yes, thank you, Jaqueline. We’ll meet you there in about twenty minutes,” Catherine said.
Genevieve agreed to meet us in a few hours and we proceeded to lock up the shop. I wasn’t sure when we would be open for business again and the thought stirred even more emotions inside my soul. We had to find a way back to normalcy and that meant getting rid of our enemies one by one. It seemed like an impossible task, but with my family and friends along with our unwavering faith, I knew we could make it happen. It was only a matter of when. We’d have to work together as one and with God, nothing was impossible. That was something I needed to continue to remind myself.
We piled into the SUV, exhausted. I wasn’t sure how long I was asleep when we pulled into the driveway. It seemed everyone else had the same idea.
Genevieve said her goodbyes while we retrieved our packs and trudged toward the house.
Danny and I dropped our stuff near the bedroom door, stripped and fell on the bed, falling asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.
Chapter 7
“Crap!” I said when I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was 5:35 a.m. and we had forgotten to set the alarm.
“Danny, wake up!” I shoved his arm.
“What? What’s wrong?” he rolled over, opening his eyes.
“We overslept, that’s what. We have less than thirty minutes to shower and dress. We need to hurry.”
“Okay, I’m up,” he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, yawning and stretching.
“Let’s just shower real quick and save some time. Don’t. I know what you’re thinking, and no.” I stood from the bed pushing him toward the bathroom.
He smiled showcasing those sexy dimples, but they weren’t gonna work on me today. We had work to do and I needed coffee in a bad way.
Ten minutes later after our power shower, I towel-dried my hair and threw it up in a messy bun. I dressed in a pair of standard black yoga pants and red V-neck T-shirt. Danny put on a white T-shirt and a pair of blue shorts. We were ready with about five minutes to spare. I seriously hated being rushed.
I looked across the hall to see Liz and Danielle’s door still closed and began to panic. I immediately felt a horrible sensation in my gut—something was wrong. Not again. I banged my fist against it, yelling for someone to open up. Danny was standing beside me telling me to calm down. I just turned and glared, then continued to pound on the door. When no one answered, I used my magic to unlock it and turned the knob.
Danielle was nowhere in the room, but what I saw on my sister’s bed made my blood run cold. Liz was lying there with what looked to be invisible restraints holding her arms above her head, but she wasn’t awake. She made a few moaning noises as if she was in pain and I lost my shit.
“Danny, get everyone in the house up here, now. I have to get her out. I need them here just in case I can’t do it on my own.”
He looked conflicted, like he didn’t want to leave me. “Danny, please! I don’t know what’s happening to her and I have to save my sister,” I pleaded. He backed out of the room and I could hear him running and yelling as he descended the stairs.
I knew Delphine had trapped Liz in another illusion. I was gonna kill her this time. I didn’t care what I had to do, but that bitch was mine. Liz’s sword? I needed to take the Sword of Light with me somehow. How? That was the question. After I checked her pulse, I searched the room for the sword and found it in its sheath in the closet. Perfect. I strapped it to my back, praying it would crossover with me into the illusion.
I took a deep breath and prayed for God’s guidance and to allow His light to protect me and my sister. I then prayed to the ancestors for their protection and guidance as well. I needed every bit of strength within me to fight Delphine for the last and final time.
I closed my eyes, placing my hands on the side of Liz’s head, connecting our powers once more. Just as I was drifting into the illusion, I heard the muffled voices of everyone crashing through the bedroom door, calling my name. They were too late. I only need
ed them to watch over us now.
I searched for the double-doored entrance in Liz’s mind and ran through it without thinking of what might meet me on the other side. I didn’t care. I ascended the now-familiar, spiral wrought iron staircase and sprinted toward the old bedroom. I could hear Delphine’s laughter echoing throughout the mansion. It only made me push my legs harder and faster until I reached the doorway. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.
Liz was tied to the bed, struggling, but her eyes were white and clouded. She turned toward me. “Abby! You came! Help me!”
I leapt toward the bed to remove the restraints but hit a magical barrier and was thrown back on my ass. Now I was pissed. “What have you done to my sister?” I demanded. I stood, then turned toward Delphine with blazing fire in my eyes.
“Ensuring I get what I want, Abigail. I have another surprise for you, but that can wait. I quite enjoy seeing you fight against my magic. Wasn’t it you who said I was powerless?” she asked sweetly, gliding toward me.
“Stay back, bitch! Don’t come any closer.”
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” She threw her head back in maniacal laughter. “I’m already dead, but not for long.”
I unsheathed Liz’s sword and prayed for God to allow me the power to wield it. I knew it wasn’t meant for me, but I needed to do something—anything to free my sister and get us out of this illusion. It seemed Delphine wasn’t bluffing and she had become much more powerful than I had realized. I needed a plan and today was not the day that her essence would die by my hand, unfortunately.
“Oh, what a pretty little trinket you have there. And what exactly do you plan to do with that?” she asked in a mocking tone.
I felt a familiar, yet somewhat foreign power—Liz’s power—rise in my arms and I knew what I had to do. A small voice inside me said that I needed to use the sword to break the magical barrier holding Liz. It was slowly draining her powers and they would eventually end up in the talisman.
“This!” I shouted, then turned toward the bed where I now saw a shimmering red barrier. I held the sword above my head and brought it down, slicing through Delphine’s magic with every bit of power and strength that I had, thanking God in the process.
All at once, the barrier shattered into tiny red fragments and Liz pulled on her restraints, breaking them with a spell. I could feel that her magic was weak, but she was still fighting.
I felt something slam against the back of my head, nearly knocking me to the floor. “What have you done, you stupid child? No one can break that spell!” Delphine was seething, holding onto a candlestick—apparently, what she’d attempted to knock me out with. I wondered why she didn’t use her magic.
“I just did,” I said, then pulled Liz from the bed. Her eyes were beginning to change back to their normal yellow-green and I felt a sense of relief. But that only lasted for a moment.
Delphine rushed toward the dresser where I saw the talisman pulsating with power and waved her right hand. Thick black smoke appeared and she waved her hand again, then looked at me with hatred in her eyes. “I have something you want,” she sneered.
Then I saw a man tied to a rickety wooden chair with his head hanging down, his chin to his chest. He looked to be breathing, but he had been badly beaten. That’s when I realized it was Harold.
“How the hell is this even possible? What do you want with him?” I demanded, storming over to her and checking Harold’s pulse. It was faint, but he was still alive.
“You’ve underestimated me far too many times, Abigail. Now, I will hurt the ones that you love until I get what I want. Tell your lover his father will be dead in three days’ time if you do not turn yourself over to me,” she snarled, leaning close to my face and I stumbled back a few steps, looking at the scene around me in complete horror.
I was shocked and all of a sudden, the urge to kill her came flooding back. Damn the consequences. I raised Liz’s sword once more and sliced through her neck, watching in satisfaction as her head began to slide from her shoulders.
Delphine held an expression of surprise at first, then her eyes clouded over and her head hit the ground landing in front of my feet. Just as I was about to rescue Harold, black smoke emanated around her dead body—everything was pitch-black. I reluctantly moved away from Harold and stood next to Liz. When the smoke cleared, Delphine appeared again as if the sword had never touched her. Her body had somehow regenerated itself. Dammit! I couldn’t kill her here. She stood with a murderous gleam in her eyes, then advanced toward me. I took another step back, wide-eyed and wanting to get the hell out of there. Liz pulled on my sleeve, dragging me further.
“Abby, we need to leave. Now. This won’t end well for either of us otherwise. We’ll have our chance later,” she whispered, backing us toward the door.
I began praying to God and the ancestors to break us from Delphine’s illusion, crushed that I was leaving Harold behind. I knew that I would find a way to rescue him, but right now I had awakened a beast and she was about to come at Liz and me full force.
White light exploded around us, creating a barrier and leading us out of the illusion. I could hear Delphine screaming and what looked to be deadly magic bouncing off the magical wall I had constructed. I again, prayed to God above and thanked Him for the power he had bestowed upon me. We took off running out of the house of horrors and into the fog until we found the doorway to Liz’s room.
***
Liz and I opened our eyes at the same time and jumped up on the bed, gasping for air. We looked to one another and tears began streaming down our faces. I had no idea how I was supposed to tell Danny that his dad was stuck in Delphine’s illusion. It seemed she was slowly draining the life and magic from him. We only had three days to come up with a plan to save him.
The next thing I knew, we were being pounced on by Mom and Danielle. Genevieve, Catherine and Allison were standing by the door with tissues in their hands. It seemed everyone was crying again. I guessed I wasn’t the only emotional one lately. Everything was falling apart. We’d take two steps forward and be violently shoved three steps back. It freakin’ sucked donkey balls.
Mom and Danielle were smothering me. “Okay, guys. We’re alive and all of our limbs are accounted for. How long were we out this time?” I asked, then looked at Danny who was holding himself back, but his emotions were written all over his face.
“Three hours,” Mom replied, getting up from the bed. “We tried everything we knew to do to wake you girls, but it was no use. Your auras were all over the place. And, Elizabeth, yours was the worst of all. We thought you were dead!” She began sobbing again and fell into the chair next to the bed.
Liz went to Mom and hugged her. “No, Mamma. Delphine had me trapped in some kind of magical barrier, but Abby used my sword to break it. I’m fine.”
Danny stepped further into the room, interrupting the conversation. “Everything is not fine. I had a vision of my dad and he’s not fine, Liz. He’s not okay at all. What’s going on? I could only catch a glimpse, and he didn’t look well.” He glanced at Liz then back to me.
“Okay, how about we take this to the kitchen. There’s a lot to discuss and not much time. And no, Danny. Your dad isn’t okay where he’s at right now, but we will save him. You have to trust me,” I said, standing from the bed and enfolding him in my arms, then kissing him lightly on the lips.
Mom agreed and decided to make us all a quick brunch with mimosas to settle our nerves. We were all up for that. Vodka sounded better, but I would take what I could get. I hadn’t drunk anything in a while, but all this Delphine and Marcus crap was really getting to me. And what about Mr. Braud? We seemed to have more and more enemies that we didn’t even know about.
If I was being honest with myself, it was more than my nerves—my heart and soul were taking a beating and I was scared to death of what might happen next. Of course, I knew I would do anything to protect my family and friends, even if that meant sacrificing myself to Delphine. But I wouldn’t go
down without one hell of a fight. I may not be able to kill her in that illusion, but I knew there had to be a way to fight back. The problem was, I only had three days to find out.
Once we were all seated at the kitchen table, Danielle decided to get up and make some coffee. God love her. Mom was busy making brunch and I decided it was time to discuss my powers with everyone. I had noticed that lately my magic unleashed at my call and had become much more powerful than I ever expected, especially in Delphine’s illusion. I thought maybe the first time I rescued Liz was a one-time deal, but then when it came back stronger than before, I knew the magic passed down from my father had progressed. I wanted to know more in hopes of finding a way to save Harold, even if I couldn’t defeat Delphine alone.
“Mamma, you should’ve seen Abby fight,” Liz said, accepting a cup a coffee from Danielle. “She was amazing wielding my sword. I didn’t know it was possible.”
Mom stopped preparing food, then turned to look at me. “You used Elizabeth’s sword in the illusion? That should be impossible,” she gasped, forgetting Liz had mentioned it earlier.
Genevieve choked on her tea. “Are you all right?” I asked, patting her on the back.
She shook her head and cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m fine. But you’re mother’s correct. How were you able to access the illusion, bringing the Sword of Light with you?”
Danielle, Catherine and Allison were studying me with confused expressions. Danny sat next to me with his hand on my thigh.
“I knew I had to find a way to break the spell. Liz and I share similar powers, being blessed with God’s light. I knew it might be a long shot, but I was willing to try anything—and it worked. I strapped her sword and sheath to my back before I went into the illusion.
“I prayed for God to allow me to access Liz’s mind and powers in order to find her.”
“Abby,” Mom cut me off. “Do you realize that you have broken her illusion not once, but three times? It’s unheard of and, as far as I can recollect, you and Elizabeth are the only witches to who have ever come back alive.” She stepped away from the counter and sat at the table, stunned.
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