Chapter Seventeen
Soulmates
Dino raced blindly through the forest, dragging Mia along behind him. He felt her stumble as she ran faster than her legs could carry her, but he yanked her back upright and kept moving forward.
‘Just a little further,’ he encouraged her. ‘We have to get back to the castle. Tol can’t touch us on hallowed ground.’
Mia gasped for breath, exhausted and choking on her tears.
‘Nearly there,’ Dino said. His comment was simply wishful thinking. The truth was, he didn’t know how far away from the castle they were. And the deeper they plunged into the forest, the more lost they became. But Dino refused to stop running. He had witnessed Tol’s capabilities first-hand, and they frightened him to the core.
Behind him, Mia let out a cry of pain. She tripped over a fallen tree branch and tumbled to the forest floor.
Dino caught her elbow, but it was too late.
‘My ankle!’ she sobbed.
Dino stooped over her. ‘Can you walk?’ he asked hurriedly. Every second they wasted was potentially life-threatening. He cautiously helped her to her feet.
Mia let out a yelp and crumpled back down to the ground like a wilting flower.
‘Damn it!’ Dino cursed.
She couldn’t put weight on it, let alone run on it. He could attempt to carry her, but it would slow them down so drastically that it would most likely render their efforts pointless.
Mia sat on the ground, nursing her rapidly swelling ankle. Her eyes welled with a fresh batch of tears, glistening silver like two rock pools. ‘I can’t go on,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry.’
Dino crouched down in front of her, placing his hands on her knees and fixing his eyes on hers. ‘Don’t you apologise, Mia. You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.’
‘I can’t walk,’ she mumbled in a tiny voice.
‘That’s OK,’ he told her. ‘We can rest here for a while.’ The prospect of stopping chilled him to the bones, but he hid his fear behind a smile.
Silent tears spilled from Mia’s brimming eyes. ‘We can’t stay here.’
Dino lifted his hands to her face, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. ‘Yes, we can,’ he said, feigning composure. ‘We’ll be fine right here.’
Mia began to cry openly now, weeping for everything that she had lost – and gained. Colt was gone. Just like that. And the man who’d killed him was her father.
‘Hey, hey,’ Dino soothed, trying unsuccessfully to pacify her. ‘Don’t cry.’
‘I feel like I’m in a nightmare and I can’t wake up,’ she rasped in uneven breaths.
Dino nodded his head. ‘I know.’
‘I loved him,’ Mia murmured. ‘Colt.’
Dino didn’t respond, but he listened compassionately as her heart poured out.
‘I did,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why, but I did. I thought he was my soulmate. Isn’t that stupid?’
‘I don’t think it’s stupid,’ Dino replied gently.
‘It’s pathetic,’ Mia went on. ‘There’s no such thing as soulmates,’ she said bitterly.
Dino sat down on the floor opposite her. He twined his fingers through a stray tuft of grass. ‘I think there is such a thing. I think there’s a place reserved for those few people who you love in a special way. I always thought our dad would be my soulmate,’ he laughed ironically. ‘Now that’s stupid.’
Mia blotted the tears from her eyes. She mustered smile. ‘What a disappointment,’ she said quietly. ‘That man’s not your soulmate, Dino.’
‘No kidding,’ he agreed. ‘Hey,’ he added hesitantly, ‘if you have room from another one, I’ll be yours. Your soulmate, I mean.’
She laughed sadly.
‘Yeah, why not? I’ll hang out with you in our future lives – for my sins!’ he joked. ‘And maybe in the next life, Colt will be there, too. Then you’ll have two soulmates. That can’t be bad.’
‘Thank you.’ She closed her eyes, trapping the tears behind an eyelid prison.
For a long while, Mia remained it the spot she had fallen. Dino sat beside her, his hair mussed and his face bruised and pale. The tall forest trees loomed around them. Above, through the branches, the full moon was just visible in the night sky.
Mia knew they would have to move eventually. But where would they go? Where was left to run to? What was the point of running, anyway?
A mild breeze wound among the trees and laced through Mia’s hair. Such a breeze was unnatural in the sheltered depths of the forest.
Dino froze. ‘Tol!’ he grimaced. He sprang into action, hauling Mia to her feet. ‘We’ve got to go!’
‘Wait!’ she stopped him.
The air grew stronger. It spiralled around Mia, sweeping her chocolate-brown hair back from her damp face.
Mia’s heart fluttered. ‘Colt!’ she called out.
A stream of air rustled through the leaves, and in a blur Colt appeared before them. He placed his hand on Mia’s tear-stained cheek.
Dino staggered backwards in disbelief.
‘Colt,’ Mia breathed. She touched his hand where it rested on her face, half expecting him to be an illusion. ‘I thought you were…’ she trailed off.
He stared at her, his eyes an identical colour to that of the forest around them. ‘It’s not that easy to take me down.’
Mia blinked. ‘But you were…dead.’
‘Was I?’ he asked. ‘That’s news to me!’
‘You’re alive?’ she stammered.
Colt shook his head in jest. ‘Oh, dear! My love, so very quick to jump to conclusions. A person can’t lose consciousness for five seconds without someone calling time of death!’ He grinned. ‘I woke up just as you were leaving. I distracted Tol’s coven for as long as I could, then I tracked you.’
Mia threw her arms around him. ‘You’re alive,’ she said tearfully.
‘Of course I am. I hate to die. And you would have missed me so much.’
Mia clung to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Colt smiled. ‘You like me a lot,’ he observed. ‘I like you a lot, too.’ He ran his hand up and down her back. Then he spoke again, his voice more uncertain this time. ‘In the graveyard, you told me not to kiss you unless I loved you...’
‘I vaguely remember,’ she said, smiling as she tilted her face to look up at him.
‘Well, I do love you,’ Colt said virtuously. ‘So I would also like to kiss you.’ He pulled away from their embrace and looked into her eyes. ‘Is that OK?’
Mia nodded her head. And the world seemed to spin around her as Colt kissed her for the first time.
Up until now, Dino had stood back, averting his eyes from the private scene. At last he spoke up. ‘OK,’ he said, clearing his throat. ‘I think that’s enough.’
The star-crossed lovers parted like impish children caught in an act of mischief. They shared a secret smile before turning to Dino.
‘Colt,’ said Dino, addressing the Hunter with awkward humility. ‘Thanks for helping out back there.’
Colt eyed him warily. ‘It would have been easier to kill you,’ he pointed out.
‘Probably,’ Dino agreed, unperturbed by the remark. ‘In fact…’ He paused. ‘…That’s not such a bad idea.’
‘What?’ Mia gawped at him.
Dino elaborated. ‘Tol wants me, right? He can’t ascend until I join his coven. And he won’t stop until he gets me. So, what’s the one guaranteed way to stop him from getting me?’
Colt mulled it over, looking amused.
‘No!’ Mia said flatly. ‘No way.’
‘Look,’ Dino reasoned, ‘Tol will stop at nothing to get me. He’d kill you all.’
‘But he won’t get you,’ Mia insisted. ‘He’s lost his hold over you.’
‘For how long?’ Dino argued. ‘He’s too powerful. As soon as he gets near me, he can get back inside my head. I know because I recognise it. I’ve done it myself. I think Tol is a Sententia.’
Colt frowne
d. ‘Strange. I detected a Tempestus power in him. It was faint, but present.’
Dino looked at Mia. ‘Like you,’ he noted, drawing the genetic comparison. Suddenly he remembered one of his earlier encounters with Tol, when Tol had used his power to split a tree trunk in two. ‘Can a Tempestus rupture a tree in half?’
Colt nodded. ‘Yes. From the root. We have command over the earth. Why?’
‘Because Tol did that!’ Dino explained. ‘That’s what he threatened to do to Mia if I didn’t consider the offer of his coven.’
Colt snorted. ‘Party tricks! He couldn’t have done that to Mia – she’s a human. In order to fracture a tree, he would have manipulated the ground to shatter its roots.’
Dino cringed. ‘And I fell for it,’ he muttered. ‘So, is it possible he’s part Sententia and part Tempestus?’ he asked Colt.
‘Yes. But a combination of powers would involve a very weak strain of each. No wonder he’s so keen to get your power in his coven. You’re the thoroughbred he probably yearned to be.’
‘Weak strain or not, he’s definitely a force to be reckoned with now,’ Dino concluded.
Colt rolled his eyes. ‘That’s because you handed over the ritual of ascension, and now he’s halfway down the road to being all-powerful!’
The memories of his behaviour and actions came back to Dino in a haze.
‘My death is the only way to stop him,’ Dino declared. ‘You have to end it here.’ He looked to Colt.
‘That does sound like fun,’ Colt mused.
‘No!’ Mia repeated, her voice wildly aggressive.
‘It’s the only way!’ Dino protested. ‘All of this is my fault, and I want to fix it.’ He turned to Colt. ‘Kill me,’ he requested valiantly.
Colt smiled wistfully. ‘As much as I’d love to oblige, I’m afraid I can’t. You see, I’ve been cursed.’ Mia and Dino looked on wide-eyed, and Colt let out a forlorn sigh. ‘I’ve caught humanity. And it’s a real kicker. I can’t kill you – not today, anyway.’
Dino furrowed his brow. ‘But you’re a Hunter.’
‘Yes,’ Colt snapped sharply. ‘And I’m the best around. Don’t you forget it! I’m just…ill.’
‘All right,’ Dino accepted. ‘Then I’ll do it myself.’
‘Another fine idea,’ Colt commented wryly. ‘But there is one other option.’
‘What’s the other option?’ Mia pressed, happy to move away from the current plan.
‘Bring him down.’
‘Tol?’ Dino raised an eyebrow. ‘Impossible.’
‘Not impossible,’ Colt corrected. ‘You will need Wendolyn, though. I can track her and lead you to her,’ he suggested.
‘Are we far away from the castle?’ Mia asked him.
Colt inhaled the air as though he were tasting it. ‘Not really. A mile, maybe two.’ To him, that distance was a mere drop in the ocean. However, to Mia and Dino, it didn’t sound quite so easy – especially with Mia’s injured ankle.
‘I won’t be able to make it that far,’ she told them despondently. She displayed her inflamed ankle.
‘Oh, good Lord!’ Colt exaggerated his sympathy. ‘A bruise! How will you live?’
Mia placed her hands on her hips. ‘I can’t walk. And I definitely can’t walk two miles!’
Colt grinned roguishly. ‘Then, darling,’ he murmured, ‘you shall fly.’ He lifted her up and slung her on to his back like a cloak.
Mia wrapped her arms around his neck securely. ‘Are you sure you’ll be able to carry me all the way?’
Colt chuckled at a joke that only he understood. ‘You won’t even slow me down,’ he said confidently. ‘All I ask is that you hold on. I wouldn’t want you seeing stars for the next week.’
Mia had never actually experienced Colt’s supreme speed, but she was aware from his abrupt entrances and exits that he was faster than most. ‘Should I be wearing a crash helmet?’ she quipped, a little nervously.
Colt plucked a leaf from a nearby tree. He reached over his shoulder and settled it on Mia’s head. ‘There you go, safe and sound.’ He gave Dino a sideways glance. ‘Boy,’ he said, ‘follow me. And try to keep up.’ Then, in a flurry of air, Colt was gone.
‘I’m not wearing the right shoes for this,’ Madeline grumbled, her stiletto heels sinking into the mud.
Cassandra tucked her red tresses behind her ears and looked down at her sister’s footwear. ‘Why on earth did you wear those heels? You look ridiculous.’
‘I look fabulous!’ Madeline argued. ‘And you’re clearly jealous.’
‘Jealous!’ Cassandra exclaimed. ‘I don’t think so, Maddie. I can’t for the life of me think why you would choose to torture yourself in such impractical shoes.’
Madeline gasped melodramatically. ‘Well,’ she huffed, ‘I can’t for the life of me think why you would choose to procreate with such impractical men!’
‘Tol wasn’t always evil! And you know that, Madeline.’
‘Girls!’ Wendolyn stepped in. ‘Stop this, please,’ she implored them. ‘You are grown women.’
‘Oh, wake up, Cassie!’ Madeline laughed raucously, ignoring Wendolyn’s remark. ‘Tol was a soulless Hunter! Even on a good day, he was still evil.’
‘No, he wasn’t!’ Cassandra yelled.
‘Yes, he was!’
‘Girls!’ Wendolyn interjected again. ‘Enough! Please.’
Madeline folded her arms. ‘Sorry, Wennie,’ she grumbled. ‘She started it.’
‘You started it!’ Cassandra shot back.
Wendolyn raised her hand to silence them. ‘I too remember Tol as a young man,’ she reminded them. ‘He was strong-willed and ill-tempered at times, but he was not evil.’
‘But he was a Hunter,’ Madeline objected.
‘Hunters are not evil beings,’ Wendolyn set her straight as they trudged through the forest. ‘And you’ll do wise to remember that,’ she added.
‘Tol was an evil being,’ Madeline muttered under her breath.
‘No, he wasn’t!’ Cassandra threw up her hands. ‘Not at first.’
‘I’m sorry, Madeline, but Cassandra is right,’ Wendolyn reflected. ‘Being a Hunter did not warp Tol – it was his greed and thirst for power that turned him into what he is today. I believe everyone is born equal – a blank canvas. And it’s the choices we make that will ultimately define who we will become. Not just as witches, but as men and women alike.’
‘Madeline is still a blank canvas,’ Cassandra teased. ‘Aren’t you, Maddie?’
‘Wennie! Can you fathom the way she speaks to me?’ Madeline wailed, outraged. ‘And after everything I do for her.’
‘Everything you do for me?’ Cassandra chortled at the ludicrousness. ‘You mean lounging around my house, eating my food, and making a mess from me to clean up?’
‘And raising your two rug rats,’ Madeline pouted.
Cassandra’s expression softened. She smiled warmly at her sister. ‘Oh, don’t pretend that you don’t love them as much as I do.’
Madeline turned her nose up into the air. ‘The girl, perhaps. But not that awful boy.’
‘Madeline!’ Cassandra exclaimed. ‘That’s a horrible thing to say! Take it back immediately.’
Wendolyn frowned in disappointment. ‘Maddie, that was terribly unkind.’
Madeline crossed her arms obstinately as she walked through the pine trees. ‘He’s got a vile temper.’
‘So have you,’ Cassandra accused with a good-natured nudge.
‘Oh, please!’ Madeline drew out the word theatrically.
Abruptly Wendolyn stopped walking.
Cassandra and Madeline looked at one another, fearing that their bickering had pushed the older lady too far.
‘I hear him,’ Wendolyn murmured in a hypnotic voice.
Cassandra tensed. ‘Is he near?’
‘Deeper into the forest,’ Wendolyn confirmed. ‘He is searching for Dino.’
‘Dino got away!’ Madeline cheered, her obvious relief contradicting
her earlier disparaging comments.
Wendolyn closed her aged eyes, listening to sounds unheard. ‘Yes. But Tol is angry. He is determined.’
Forcefully, Madeline unstuck one of her heels from the ground. ‘Well, let’s just see who’s more determined – Tol or us!’
Chapter Eighteen
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
‘Are you sure we’re heading in the right direction?’ Madeline asked for what felt like the hundredth time. She stomped through the forest, huffing loudly at every opportunity.
‘Yes, Maddie,’ Cassandra replied tiredly. ‘We must be close, because I can sense him.’ Her stomach flipped at the realisation.
She hadn’t seen Tol since they’d banished him sixteen years ago. The day was still so vivid in her mind. It had all seemed very sudden – one moment they were happy and in love with two beautiful children, and the next she was banishing a demon from her life. It broke her heart. And somewhere deep inside, she knew that she would never love again. Tol was her heart.
No. My Tol is gone, she reminded herself sternly. There was no room for weakness.
‘We’re on the right path,’ Wendolyn confirmed. ‘I only hope that William is with us by the time we reach Tol.’ She clutched the amber amulet that hung around her neck. That small orange stone was the sacred portal which would draw William to her.
‘Oh, a race against time!’ Madeline noted with a spark of excitement. ‘Russian roulette! Do you think those kids are up to it?’
Wendolyn was quiet for a moment. ‘I think they are able,’ she answered at last.
‘I don’t know…’ Madeline studied her fingernails. ‘The boy looked like a startled rabbit and the girl looked like she was one plate short of a dinner set.’
‘You’re very rude, Madeline,’ Cassandra scolded. ‘You know, you’re not so perfect yourself, little sister.’
Madeline ran her fingers along her defined cheekbone, posing for an invisible camera. ‘I’m more or less perfect,’ she uttered dreamily. ‘Besides, I wasn’t being rude. I was merely playing the odds.’
A rustle in the trees stopped the three women in their tracks. They bristled, preparing themselves for battle.