Kendra took my hand and squeezed, tugging me toward the large room. “There’s no one on this planet that I trust more than you, Jessie.”
My foot crossed the threshold beneath the arch, and a horrific howling filled the air.
I groaned. Was nothing easy? Why couldn’t it ever be as simple as walking into a room to take a peek at an ancient book? “You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Kendra cringed. “Oh…”
The howling didn’t ease up. I covered my ears and yelled, “Oh? That’s really all you have to say?”
“I guess it makes sense. They’ve got magical wards in place to protect things,” she yelled back.
Any second now, my ears were going to start bleeding. “You didn’t stop to think that might be a possibility before we walked in?”
She met my gaze with a glare. “Neither did you. You’re supposed to do this stuff for a living.”
“Breaking into coven storage houses? Um, no,” I said, trying to make myself heard over the noise.
She threw her hands into the air, then dropped them to cover her ears. “You know what I mean. Hang on. Lemme see if I can get it to stop.” She bounded across the room to the middle, where the podium was. Kendra laid her hand against the book and closed her eyes, and a moment later, the shrieking silenced.
“Thank God…” she said, wiping a hand across her brow. She looked from the mirror to me and shook her head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to hang here. I can come back later tonight and check things out myself. Maybe smuggle some books with me. Right now, I think we need to get you out of here.”
I nodded. No arguments from me. The last thing I wanted was for Cassidy to find out I was here. Not only would she eat me alive, but Kendra would be in a world of shit.
She stepped through the mirror, and I followed, not hesitating this time.
I should have.
“Oww!” Instead of moving fluidly through, I smashed into solid glass, smushing my nose and stubbing my big toe. I gasped. The surface shimmered twice, glinting with the same ripple at the center I’d seen when we’d come in. A million things raced through my head. What if the alarm started going off again? What would happen if there was some freaky, witchy Indiana Jones type booby trap about to spring? With a bright flash, the glass turned clear, and I could see Kendra on the other side looking pale and horrified.
She tapped the surface with her index finger, kicked it with her feet, and finally, pounded it with her fist. The actions were soundless on my end. Her mouth moved frantically, but I couldn’t hear a word. If I couldn’t hear her, chances were she wouldn’t be able to hear me, either. I covered my ears and shook my head. “No good,” I mouthed slowly. “Can’t hear.”
“What happened?” she mouthed, frowning.
She was asking me? She was the witch. I held up a hand and backed away from the glass, slipping into the corner where there was just enough shadow to stand in. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on Kendra and the other side of the mirror. I felt myself blend into the darkness, and from the other side, I saw Kendra turn, looking for me, but my location didn’t change.
I tried again.
Still, nothing. I felt the cool relief as I faded into the shadows, but couldn’t leave the room. This was the third time my shadowing had gone wonky. Maybe Dad was right. Use it or lose it.
“Craps,” I cursed, stepping from the darkness. I rushed back to the glass and banged my fist. “Can’t shadow out.”
“Have to get help,” Kendra mouthed. She didn’t look any happier about the idea than I was.
There was nothing left to say. Cassidy was going to implode when she found out about this, but there was no other choice. Kendra didn’t know how to get me out, and even if she went to another coven sister, it wouldn’t stay under wraps. Cassidy ruled the women with an iron fist. None of them would keep this a secret from her.
I nodded, resigned to my fate.
“Be back, ASAP.” She spoke slowly so I could read her lips.
I watched her leave, then slid to the floor and proceeded to count back from five hundred. Twice. I thought about poking around, but that idea didn’t last long. The only thing that would make this more awesome would be to set off another alarm. It was that line of thinking, plus the mental image of me spending the rest of my days cursed as a snail or an ant, that kept me rooted in the darkened corner with my hands in my lap.
I tried to dial out to let Mom and Lukas know I was alive, but there was no cell signal. I couldn’t even play games because the phone battery was dying. But it wasn’t horrible. I only ended up cooling my heels for about twenty minutes before there was movement on the other side of the mirror.
I got to my feet as Cassidy came into view, followed not by Kendra, but another woman. Two, actually. The one I didn’t know was slightly familiar. I’d seen her around the Belfairs’ house a few times. Jana, or something. Then there was the other. Long blond hair and crystalline blue eyes.
Oh man. Mom.
I waited, refusing to move from the safety of the shadows, expecting to see Kendra pop in behind them, but there was no further movement by the door. Great. She was probably locked away in witch jail for bringing me here.
They stopped short of stepping up to the mirror, and Cassidy had her back turned, so I couldn’t make out what she was saying. Jana looked upset and was shaking her head. Mom just looked bored.
The conversation went on for a few minutes, and it was killing me not to know what they were saying. I wished they’d just get me out and commence with the yelling. The waiting was worse than the actual punishment.
I was so absorbed in what they weren’t saying and doing, that I almost missed the plume of purple smoke rising from the floor by the doorway of the bathroom.
I threw myself out of the shadows and at the glass, pounding with all my strength, but it was pointless. I might as well be sending up smoke signals from the Shadow Realm for all the good it did. Like Kendra, they couldn’t hear me, but they also couldn’t seem to see me, either. Cassidy glanced toward the mirror several times. If she’d seen me, there would have been some pretty impressive fireworks.
The smoke started to shift, and thankfully, they noticed. Cassidy was the first, stumbling back as Gressil’s form solidified, and knocking Jana over in the process. Mom, more agile than either woman, dropped and rolled to the left, safely out of reach, as the demon made a grab for her.
He opened his mouth in a silent roar and dove for the nearest person. Jana. The whole thing was eerie. Her soundless thrashing and open mouth frozen in a silent scream. Gressil threw her against the wall next to the sink and leaned in close, his expression one of true excitement. Cassidy approached slowly from the right, as Mom came from the left.
The fact that she was out there facing off against this thing that had almost killed her once already made me insane. I was helpless and cold, numb to the very real possibility that at any moment, Gressil could whirl around and destroy my world and there wasn’t crap I could do to stop it.
The demon must have decided Mom and Cassidy had come close enough, because he threw his head back and laughed, semisolid purple tendrils shooting out in both directions to wrap around them like twine on a Thanksgiving turkey. They fell to the ground, squirming to be free, and Gressil turned back to Jana. She’d stopped screaming and was shaking her head. Over and over.
I kicked at the glass. “Run!” I yelled, even though I knew she wouldn’t hear me. “Don’t just stand there. Do something.” But Jana wasn’t me. I could see she wasn’t a fighter. She stood stiff against the wall, and I knew it was all over.
He spoke, his lips forming words that looked a lot like hour for hour. Hour for hour? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Not that it mattered. Nothing would help poor Jana now. Gressil took a deep breath, lips so close to hers that if I turned my head to the right a little, it might look like they were kissing. Her body lit up—a pale pink light that sort of glimmered all around as it flowed from her and into Gre
ssil’s wide open mouth. Sucking her soul, her energy, her life force—whatever it was.
I slammed both hands against the glass. In fact, I did it repeatedly. Over and over until my fists were numb and my arms sore.
Jana grew paler by the second. As the last of the pink light dwindled, her eyes fluttered closed, and she went limp in the demon’s grip. My heart sank. He stepped away, releasing her, and her body dropped like a stone to the dirty tile floor.
Cassidy’s eyes were wide, and I didn’t think it possible, but maybe the coven leader did have a heart. The obvious pain she felt was etched in her expression. She stopped struggling against her bonds to stare at her fallen sister, horrified.
The pain was palpable, constricting my chest and making my throat thick. Tears slipped down my face. I hadn’t known Jana, but no one deserved that. To be used and thrown away like a thing. A piece of trash.
I waited, breath held, for the demon to make another move, but he didn’t. He stepped away from Jana to stand over Cassidy, saying something I couldn’t make out. Whatever it was, though, had both women’s heads whiplashing toward the mirror. He turned as well and flashed a predatory grin.
They hadn’t come to free me. They hadn’t even known I was here.
Gressil dissipated, along with the smoky bonds around Mom and Cassidy, leaving a thick cloud of purple in his wake. Cassidy climbed to her feet. One look at her expression—it’d gone from sorrow to murderous in a quarter of a second—and I was backing away from the glass as fast as my feet would carry me while she did her mojo to open the door.
“You little bitch,” she howled, charging through the mirror. With the door open, I probably could have scampered into the shadow and transported myself to the other side, next to Mom, but my feet wouldn’t work. No matter the command, I stayed rooted like a moron as she came at me. Cassidy crossed the room and grabbed the front of my shirt, spinning me to the wall. “How dare you?”
I needed to diffuse the situation. “I know it looks bad, but I can—”
“Shut up.”
I bit down hard on my lip and cringed at the venom in her voice. Grasping at her hands still wound around fistfuls of my shirt, I dug my nails into her skin. I wasn’t about to get physical with my best friend’s mom, but I had a right to defend myself.
“You have no respect—” Cassidy flew backward.
“Get your goddamned hands off my kid,” Mom roared.
The fiercest Monster Masher I knew, Mom was definitely a force for the chaos-causing Otherworlders to fear. But threaten her child? Forget about changing your zip. You’d better look into changing your country code. Or your planet.
“If you ever lay a finger on her again, I might forget you’re human and just eradicate your ass,” Mom seethed.
Cassidy climbed to her feet, rage seeping from every pore. Her movements were stiff and jerky, and her lips pulled back with a snarl. “Just like a Darker. Threaten, threaten, threaten.” She laughed and raised her arm, fingers curling tight into a fist. The skin around her hand began to glow deep red. “It’s about time someone taught you some manners.”
“What the hell?” Kendra came through the door and stopped midstride when she saw Mom and Cassidy facing off against each other. There was something in her hand. Her gaze fell to Jana, lying pale as paper on the other side of the mirror. The thing, a book, fell to the floor as she rushed to step between them. When neither mom answered, she turned to me, then dropped to the ground beside Jana. “Jessie?”
What was I supposed to say here? Your mom attacked me? I couldn’t do that to Kendra. “They showed up. I assumed it was because you brought them.”
“I was meeting Jana,” Cassidy snapped. She turned to my mom, pointing a finger in her direction. “She just showed up. Then, so did the demon. Why is that, Klaire?”
Mom’s face turned red. Cassidy Belfair was one of the few people that could push her buttons. I knew they’d gone to school together, and more and more lately, I’d come to the conclusion that there was more to their history than I’d been told. She took a step forward and jabbed her own finger. “I know you’re not implying what it sounds like you’re implying.”
“Guess who attacked,” I said, wedging myself between them, next to Kendra. This was getting ridiculous.
Cassidy backed off a bit. “It killed Jana,” she said to Kendra as she picked herself off the ground. “I thought it would kill us, too, but it said Jessie was inside and left without laying a finger on either of us.”
“I dunno how it knew I was there when no one else could see me.”
Everyone seemed to be calming down. Good. This was good.
Kendra looked from her mom to mine and took a deep breath. “Mom, this isn’t Jessie’s fault. I brought her here. I thought we could—”
The sound Cassidy’s hand made as it clipped Kendra’s cheek sent me about a foot into the air. I moved without really thinking about it, lunging for Cassidy, but thankfully, Mom was fast. She snatched my wrist and yanked back before I could make the situation ten times worse. Getting in the middle of a coven issue? That was just death wish territory. Still though, Kendra was my best friend. No one, including her own mother, was going to rough her up on my watch.
I settled for words instead of action. A rarity for me, but hey, you worked with what you had. “Mrs. Belfair, Kendra was worried about the coven. She thought maybe if we looked at some of your historical archives, we might be able to figure out how Lorna and Charles—”
“Lorna and Charles.” Cassidy said the names like they were curses. “None of you have respect for our ways. It stops now. For good.” She whirled on Kendra. “You will no longer associate with the Darkers.”
Kendra rolled her eyes. “Sure. And you plan on taking care of the demon problem all on your own, right?” Kendra didn’t talk back to her mother often, and when she did, it was timid and hesitant. Now though, it was like a totally different person was standing in front of me. This witch was confident and brave. Whether it was because she’d been inducted as a full coven member, or just because she’d finally gotten sick of Cassidy’s controlling crap, it didn’t matter. I was so damn proud of her.
“We will handle the demon,” Cassidy said with certainty.
Mom took a step forward. “Even if you could locate the prison, you can’t give him what he wants.”
Cassidy glared at Mom, then laughed. “I’m not Lorna. I can’t be ordered around by a Darker. I will do what I want. What I need to do to protect my sisters.” She snapped her fingers and pointed to the door. “Kendra, we’re leaving.”
“Mom, I don’t think—”
“Do not make me say it again.”
Kendra sighed. “I’ll catch you in school tomorrow, Jessie.”
She made a move to walk toward the door, but Cassidy grabbed her wrist. She held so tight that the skin on Kendra’s arm went from red to white. “No, you won’t. You are to stay away from anyone with the name Darker. That’s an order from your coven leader, not your mother.”
Kendra gasped, and a wash of icy fear swept over me. Cassidy had told Kendra to give me a wide berth many times, but as a mother. A command from her coven leader couldn’t be disobeyed without facing some seriously harsh punishments.
I’d just lost my best friend.
Chapter Nineteen
There was a small buzzing sound. I burrowed deeper into the covers in an attempt to make it go away, but it wouldn’t be silenced. Groggy, I pulled my face from the pillow. It was still dark, the stars shining through my thin bedroom curtains. On the nightstand, my cell was lit up and rattling like a metal head in a mosh pit. “Whoever you are, you better be on the verge of being eaten by an entire nest of hellhounds…”
I made a grab for the cell, but missed, knocking my ancient iPod off the dresser. Thankfully, it landed in the safety of my shoe—one without demon dog drool. On the second swipe, I got the phone. The sudden light from the screen was harsh, and it took a minute for my eyes to adjust enough to read it. It wa
s a text from Kendra.
Come outside.
I threw the covers aside and pulled my purple hoodie over my head with a yawn. Dad hadn’t been here when I came up to bed, but I tiptoed regardless. No reason to take chances. Not that I was doing anything wrong… Mom warned me about leaving the house at night, but technically I wasn’t. Well, at least I wasn’t stepping foot off the property. Same thing, really.
Down the stairs and through the office, I pulled open the door, reaching up to keep the bell from jingling. Kendra stood on the front lawn. She was in her pink ski jacket, with red flannel pants tucked into last year’s Uggs. I’d teased her relentlessly about them.
“Are you insane?” I whispered, trekking across the snow-covered grass. Craps. Shoes. I knew I’d forgotten something important. My socks were soaked through already, and my toes were beginning to numb.
“I’m sorry,” she said, meeting me halfway, pausing for a second before throwing her arms tight around me.
I returned the hug and pulled away. “Why the hell would you be sorry?”
“That I didn’t get back to the archives in time? That my mom is crazy? That I left with her—”
“Ken, I get it. Coven business. You had to leave.” A lump formed in my throat. “You shouldn’t be here. You were given an order.”
She shook her head. “I’m not giving up my best friend.” Her face paled, mouth forming a perfect O. “You didn’t really think—”
“What I think…” I couldn’t finish.
“Because as someone way smarter than me pointed out, I’m not Cassidy. I’m me. And me is a good person, not to mention a good witch. If Mom is Maleficent, then I’m Glenda, okay? I’m your Lorna. No matter what, I have your back, girl.”
Tears stung the corners of my eyes, and I pushed forward and threw my arms around her. “What I think, is that I love you like crazy, Kendra Belfair.”