As it turns out, while the dress my mom and I had chosen was perfect for the Harvest Moon Dance, it wasn’t quite the thing for walking in the woods.
Michael had broken every speed law getting us from the town hall to Lake Rosu. It was on the other side of town, still within the borders of King.
“That makes sense,” he muttered to himself as he drove. “They’d want to be on King property for anything supernatural they’re trying to do. And Rosu is the only lake completely within town.”
“I’m not even sure where it is,” I admitted. “ I think I’ve seen the signs for it, but I couldn’t get us there.”
“Luckily I can. Listen, Tas,” he abruptly shifted the tone of his voice. “When we get there, you stay here in the car, and keep my cell phone, in case you need to call for help. I’ll go in and try to find them—”
“No way,” I shook my head emphatically. “You’re not doing this without me. And who am I going to call, anyway?”
“The police. Tell them we heard that Nell was planning to hurt Amber. I don’t know, you’ll think of something. I’m not dragging you out there and putting you in more danger.”
“No, you’re not dragging me anywhere. I’m going of my own free will. Arguing isn’t going to change that.”
His hand tightened on the steering wheel, and I heard a sharp intake of breath.
“Fine,” he spit out. “But you stay behind me, and don’t get near Nell—”
I knew it was his worry that was talking and not a lack of confidence in my ability to take care of myself, so I let it pass.
We turned into the lake parking lot, just a small gravel patch between the lake itself and the woods. There was only one car in the lot.
“Nell’s,” Michael nodded toward the sleek black vehicle. We both climbed silently out of the Mustang. I stumbled on the gravel, catching high heels between the rocks. Michael steadied me, holding my elbow.
“How are you going to walk in the woods in those?” he inquired in a low voice.
“Very carefully. I’ll take them off if it gets too bad,” I promised, and then shuddered at the idea of what I’d be walking on in my bare feet. Michael rolled his eyes at me as he pulled me toward the start of the trail.
“You insist on walking into potentially life-threatening danger without blinking, but you’re afraid of stepping on—what, fire ants? Bugs?”
“Or scorpions,” I agreed in a whisper. “Yuck.”
He shook his head. She’s the strangest girl I ever knew. If she weren’t just adorable about it… it would probably frustrate me to death.
I snorted quietly. “I’m not adorable. Remember? I am elegant and sophisticated.” I indicated my dress with a flourish of my hand, and then ruined the gesture by losing my balance again and clutching a tree to keep from falling.
Michael stepped in front of me. “Here,” he whispered. “Jump on.”
“Your back? I’m too heavy, I’ll hurt you.”
“Tas, we have no time for this. You’re not going to hurt me. Please, you’re insulting my manhood.”
Without another word, I leapt up onto his back. He caught my legs around the knees and gave me another boost to secure me as I held onto his shoulders. I laid my head down on his back as he moved much more quickly down the trail.
I raised my head only when I felt him take a sharp left. He didn’t slow down, only turned his head slightly and whispered, “Boulder.” So I knew we had come to the point where we veered off the marked trail.
My heart was pounding, with fear that we would be arriving too late and with trepidation that we’d have to figure out some way to stop Nell once we got there. I took deep breaths and quieted my head, straining to hear any thoughts that might be coming from up ahead. I purposely ignored the undertones I could hear from Michael—now was not the time—but there was only silence until—
No no no no no… please no… someone please save me… oh, God…
It had to be Amber. I leaned closer to Michael’s ear. “I can hear Amber—what she’s thinking. We must be getting close. She’s alive, but I can’t tell if she’s already been hurt or if she’s just afraid.”
He nodded and increased his speed. I listened harder, and this time, over the screaming fear of Amber, I could hear Nell, too.
They’ll see, they’ll all see. My power is going to be greater than anything they’ve known. I’ll be the most powerful witch in generations. Even my mother… A flash of painful memory flew across her mind at that, and I winced in shared pain. And then we could hear both of them, just in front of us.
“Nell, please… don’t do this. You’re my friend—”
Nell’s unpleasant laugh cut across Amber’s words. “Shut up. This is why I’m your friend. Did you really think I spent all this time and attention on you because I liked you? Please. This has been my plan from the beginning. I need a blood sacrifice, Amber. You’re the one whose blood I’ve chosen to spill. You really should be honored—your sacrifice is going to go a long way to making me more powerful. Once she sees what I’m capable of doing, Marica won’t be able to ignore me. She’ll see that I’m the one who deserves all her attention. Now, please, step into the sacred circle. I really don’t want to cut you until you’re within.”
Amber’s laughter was hysterical. “You think I’m going to do anything you ask me to? Are you crazy, Nell?”
The answering screech was pure pain and fury. Michael stepped into the clearing just in time to see Nell launch herself at Amber and knock her into a tree, still holding onto her. He released my knees, and I dropped easily to my feet, sliding down his back. The minute I was clear of him, Michael was across the clearing. He grabbed Nell from behind and pulled her off Amber, who immediately fell to the ground at the base of the tree.
I ran to Amber as quickly as my shoes would allow me. She was lying against the tree, and I could tell she was breathing. I pulled her up to me, leaning close to her ear.
“Amber, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
She grabbed onto me with a grip of steel. “Don’t leave me here, she wants to hurt me, please don’t leave me!”
I held her close, instinctively rocking as I would a young child. “Shh, we’re not leaving. It’s okay.”
About five feet away, Michael was still holding a struggling Nell. She twisted, trying to kick him, attempting to get free. He had her hands restrained, and I looked about wildly for the knife, terrified she might break free and stab him. But I didn’t see it anywhere.
“Amber, did Nell have a knife with her?” I asked her urgently.
I could feel her head move against my arm, nodding. “Yes. She had the athame—but she was going to use it for more than just drawing the circle this time. She was going to use it on me—”
“Shut up!” Nell screamed. “Keep your stupid mouth closed! You know the secrets don’t go beyond the clearing—and now you’ve ruined our sacred place. The presence of a male within the sacred—” She clamped her mouth shut abruptly, and then turned to hiss at Michael. “You don’t know anything. Let go of me. I’ll tell everyone you came here to attack Amber and me—”
“Oh, yeah?” Michael’s voice was amused, even as he tightened his hold on a still-struggling Nell. “So I brought Tasmyn along, what, just so she could watch?”
“You have proof of nothing. Nothing any of you says will mean anything. What Amber and I choose to do out here is our own business and you interfered.”
Another hysterical laugh rose from Amber, and she pushed away from me. “What I choose to do, Nell? You were going to kill me. I didn’t choose that.”
Nell stopped moving for a moment and rolled her eyes. “It was all metaphysically speaking, Amber. I was never going to really hurt you—how could I? You’re my friend—haven’t I shown you that you can trust me?”
Amber stood up, slowly. “I should never have listened to anything you said to me. I knew, down deep inside, I knew it wasn’t real. But I wanted it to be, so I didn’t pay any attention to what
I knew. And that almost killed me.”
Nell laughed. “Again, I remind you, there’s no proof of any of this. How was I going to kill you, Amber? I don’t have a gun, do I?”
“The knife. You had the athame. You were going to use it on me.”
Nell’s eyes glittered in the moonlight. “Really, Amber? A knife? What knife would that be? Do any of you see a knife around here?”
I had been looking around, all this time, and she was right. There wasn’t a knife anywhere on the ground, and it wasn’t in Nell’s hands.
“Check her,” Michael instructed me. “She’s got to have it on her somewhere if it’s not on the ground.”
But Nell’s well-fit blood red gown really left little to the imagination. I could tell that she didn’t have it hidden beneath her dress. I clumsily patted her down, ignoring both her spitting-mad thoughts and her verbal noises of outrage.
I closed my eyes and listened to Nell, which should have been simple, given the volume of her thoughts. But Amber’s were nearly as loud, as her fear still screamed, and even Michael’s were interfering.
They’ll never find it, and without a weapon, they don’t have any proof. And no witnesses, so it’s their word against mine. Everyone knows that no one will go up against a Massler. It’ll backfire on them, and the whole school—the whole town—will be talking about them, laughing at them.
I was quiet, thinking. She was right. Without the knife, it was just two girls in the woods, maybe fighting, maybe not. There was no proof that Nell had lured Amber here, and we hadn’t alerted the police or teachers to what we suspected. It was, as Nell pointed out, our word against hers, and who was going to believe us? Michael might hold some clout, but Amber and I were at a distinct disadvantage. And knowing Nell, she would figure out some way to turn things around to hurt Michael. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I moved to stand in front of Amber. “Michael, let her go,” I said wearily. “As much as I hate to say it, she’s right. We don’t have any proof.”
Behind me, Amber sucked in a breath. “But she was going to kill me. She had a knife and she was going to—” she stopped, unable to continue.
“Amber, I’m sorry,” I answered. “I know what you’re saying is true. We believe you. But there’s nothing we can do.”
I saw the same realization cross Michael’s face. Grimly, reluctantly, he released Nell. She stumbled forward, surprised, and then she righted herself. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze flickered among the three of us. For the briefest moment, I could hear, she considered going ahead with her plan. But Michael’s presence had truly sullied this spot for her. Instead, she spun to face all of us, backing toward the trail.
“I’ll have to think about what I’m going to do. I might still press charges.” Her voice was smooth, but I could sense it was mostly bravado.
“Give it up, Nell,” Michael said dismissively. “You don’t have proof any more than we do. Only difference is, we all know what went down here. And we’re not going to forget it.”
Nell stood there for another silent minute. And then she turned and disappeared into the woods.
Michael shook his head, looking at Amber. “Amber, I’m sorry we had to let her go. You know you can still press charges—”
“No!” I nearly shouted. “No, Michael. If Amber pursues this, Nell is going to go after you. And I’m not going to have that. She’s not going to ruin your life.”
“So we’re just going to let her get away with all of this?” Anger and frustration tinged Michael’s voice, and I could feel the depth of it emanating from him.
I was suddenly so tired that I could barely stand. “We stopped her from hurting Amber. That was our real goal, right?”
“We stopped her for tonight. What’s going to stop her next time?”
I stifled a yawn. “Amber’s not going to put herself into a position to be hurt again by Nell, are you, Amber?”
Amber was leaning against the tree, looking from Michael to me in bewilderment. I could hear that she was struggling with the same fatigue I was—a reaction to the extreme stress, I imagined.
She shook her head slowly, in answer to me. “No. I don’t want to have anything to do with Nell, not ever again.” Her head dropped and her voice lowered. “You tried to tell me. You didn’t even really know me, but you were warning me. And I didn’t listen, and it could have cost me my life…” She shuddered, and I began to worry that she was going into shock.
“Michael, we need to get her out of here,” I said, my voice low but intense. “We all need to get out. Amber, how did you get here? We only saw Nell’s car in the parking lot.”
She was attempting to keep her focus, but it was getting more difficult. “I—she told me not to park there—she said to leave my car alongside the woods, in a pull-off, and then I walked into the clearing from there.”
“Okay, you’ll come back to the parking lot with us, then we’ll drive out to your car and Tasmyn can take you home. Let’s go—can you walk it?”
Amber nodded, and Michael reached out to take my hand, leading us through the trees, onto the trail.