As we hugged, I saw him. Hand in hand with Emma. He was taller than I’d imagined. His hair was short and dark stubble painted his cheeks and chin. He wore khakis and a button down shirt. He blinked and those amazing butterscotch eyes filled with moisture.
“There’s someone you have to meet.” Grandma Longfellow led me into the room.
Ethan opened his mouth, but his jaw quivered, so he closed it. Tears spilled over and rolled down his rough cheeks. “Alexandria.”
I bit my lip. “Dad.”
He approached me like I was a frightened deer. His hand rose to touch my face, but it hovered an inch away. “You look so much like me. But your eyes, they’re…you have -”
“Ross eyes.”
He pulled me underneath his scratchy chin and squeezed me until I could hardly breathe. I’d never been as happy as I was at that moment.
“I heard you,” Ethan whispered. “In the hospital. Upstairs. Every word you spoke to me, I heard. And I’ve never been prouder of anyone in my life.”
I didn’t want to let him go. I didn’t want him out my sight. As selfish as it was, because I knew Grandma Longfellow missed him, I didn’t want him to stay in Ipswich. I wanted him close. Under our roof. “Will you stay with us in Hazel Cove?”
“Your mother and I already talked about it. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to move in. Be a family. Start making up for lost time.”
The idea made me giddy.
Ethan pecked me on the forehead. “I have to meet these two strapping young men. You must be Peter.”
Peter extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Longfellow.”
Ethan’s hand met Peter’s, but instead of shaking it, he pulled Peter into a hug. “Thank you for keeping my daughter safe for all these years.”
“No problem, sir.” Peter said.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” Ethan said. “Emma tells me that you’re the star hockey player at Hazel Cove High. We’ll have to shoot around.”
“You play?”
“You bet. I was a defenseman for HCH.”
Ethan clapped Peter on his shoulder and turned to James. “And you must be James.”
“Nice to meet you, sir,” James said, also extending his hand.
Ethan hugged him, too. “I heard about your father and what you did in the cemetery to save Alexandria. I can never thank you enough.”
James nodded. “Alex saved me, too. From myself and from my family.”
“I was a little skeptical when I heard you were a Van Curen. But Emma told me everything about you.” Ethan tilted his head at me. “You put a protection spell on your house?”
“I did.”
Gabriel was still out there and even though the Il Gaurdenarium spell wasn’t full proof (he saw me ram the column through Vanessa’s house), it would delay an attack.
“Good,” Ethan said. “James, you will be safe there until we figure out this mess. And even after it’s all said and done, you are welcomed to stay.”
“Thank you, sir,” James said.
Emma grabbed Ethan’s hand. “What happened down there? Did Vanessa perform the reversal?”
I shook my head. There was no need to elaborate. They didn’t need to hear the gory details.
“You took her heart?” Emma’s hand went to her mouth.
I shifted my weight. “No.”
“Then…how?”
“Liam ripped Vanessa’s heart out,” I said. “He gave it to me to use for the reversal.”
“Liam Ross?” Ethan’s face went white. “He helped you?”
“Yes,” I said. “He said I should enjoy my father in my last months.”
Ethan’s nose flared. “We’re going to stop him.”
“Actually, we have some good news about Liam. We know how to kill him.”
“How?” Emma asked.
“Liam first sacrifice was his mother, Lara. He trapped her in a receptacle, but it was stolen from him during the plague,” I said. “We visited an old woman in the bayou who practices Voodoo. She told me that if a pure blood could conjure Lara out of the receptacle and into her own body, then that pure blood would be powerful enough to take on Liam.”
“Alex, that’s wonderful news,” Grandma Longfellow said.
I nodded. “It is. But, I don’t know what the receptacle is and I don’t know where it’s hidden.”
“I do,” Ethan said.
Peter and James moved beside me.
It took me a moment to process what he’d said. “You do?”
“Well, I don’t know what the receptacle is.” Ethan’s eyes lit up. “But I’m pretty sure I know where it’s located.”
“How do you know that?” James asked.
“Alexandria’s Grandma Claudia dedicated her life to researching Liam. She knew he was looking for a receptacle. She knew it meant something to him.”
“I searched Grandma Claudia’s books,” I said. “Her journals. Everything. She never mentioned the receptacle. She barely mentioned Liam.”
“Maybe she thought it was too dangerous to record,” Emma said.
Ethan clasped Emma’s hand. “Claudia and I discussed it a few days after your mother and I told her we were pregnant. Claudia was certain that she’d pinned the last place the receptacle had been. She didn’t know what the receptacle was either, but she vowed to search until she found it. I’m sure she was hunting for it until the day she died.”
“She knew where it was?”
“Emma said your grandmother moved there years ago.”
It couldn’t be. “Liam’s lost receptacle is in…?”
Ethan’s face broke into a grin. “That’s right. It’s in Salem.”
END OF BOOK THREE
All Hallows Eve (Book 4, New England Witch Chronicles Series)
Now Available!
Halloween is fast approaching and, with it, Alexandria’s eighteenth birthday. Will Alex, Peter and James find Liam’s lost receptacle before the impending sacrifice on All Hallows Eve? Will the anger and darkness that’s plaguing Alex overcome her? Can Alex find a way to defeat Liam or will she suffer the consequences of so many pure blooded witches before her?
All Hallows Eve is the gripping conclusion to the New England Witch Chronicles Series.
Acknowledgments
As always, my brother, Chano, helped edit the novel and gave me tons of insight. He always tells it to me straight and for that, I’m eternally grateful.
I always find it hilarious that my dad, Ruben, reads my books. If you knew my dad, there’s no way you’d believe he would read a young adult book. He supports me in everything I do and I’m blessed to have such a great father.
I was extremely lucky to find Rahul Philip, my graphic artist. He’s been a very important part of this process. This is our third collaboration together and I see many more in the future. Please visit his website at http://www.rahulphilip.com to see more of his amazing artwork.
Finally, I want to thank my mom, Lisa. She helped more than usual this time. She was my designated babysitter for the month of September. She helped with the housework, food and laundry, just so I could edit. Without her, there’s no way I could have finished this book.
For more information on Wicked Betrayal (Book 3, New England Witch Chronicles Series) and the conclusion to the series, All Hallows Eve (Book 4, New England Witch Chronicles Series), please visit the following websites:
For more information, please visit: http://www.chelsealunaauthor.com
http://www.facebook.com/ChelseaLuna.Author
Follow me on Twitter: @Chelsea_Luna_
Novels by
Chelsea Luna:
The New England Witch Chronicles Series (Young Adult)
New England Witch Chronicles (Book 1)
Conjured (Book 2)
Wicked Betrayal (Book 3)
All Hallows Eve (Book 4)
Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy (Young Adult)
Love & the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1)
Death & the Zombie Apocal
ypse (Book 2)
Revenge & the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3) – Coming Spring 2015
Angels & Sinners Novella Series (Young Adult)
Torment of Shadows (Novella 1)
Mortal Sin (Novella 2) – Coming 2015
Middle Grade Series:
Monster Club: Case of the Ivy Hollow Werewolf (Book 1)
About the Author
Chelsea Luna is the author of the best selling young adult series, New England Witch Chronicles. Chelsea received a JurisDoctorate from New York Law School in New York, New York in 2007, and a B.A. in Sociology, with a concentration in Criminal Justice, from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2004. Chelsea lives in Tennessee.
Chelsea Luna, Wicked Betrayal
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