Nightmares (The Coven, Book 1)

by Erica Stevens

  “You’ll never know if you keep denying it.”

  “What do I have to do?” she asked.

  “First, you should come in.”

  Reid stepped aside, and when Avery entered, her arm brushed his. A jolt went through her, and she stopped walking. Her breath caught when his eyes deepened to the color of molten lead. She didn’t know why her body reacted to him the way it did, but gazing at him, she realized he felt it too.

  CHAPTER 9

  Avery pulled her feet up on the wooden trunk and hugged her knees to her chest as she gazed around Landon’s room. The crystals hanging over the windows sparkled, and more of them cluttered Landon’s oak bureau. Instead of sneering at the crystals, Avery focused her attention on the cozy room decorated in shades of lavender and dove gray. A mural of the ocean was painted over Landon’s sleigh bed, and the birds and ships in it adorned the horizon in a spectacular array of colors.

  Reid stood by one of the windows with his eyes focused on the far wall and a pensive look on his face. Despite the fact he stood ten feet away from her, Avery felt his presence as acutely as if he was beside her.

  Landon returned and glided across the room to stand before Avery. She smiled as she handed a steaming cup to Avery. “Drink this,” Landon said.

  “What is it?” Avery asked.

  “Tea.”

  Avery waved the cup away. “I don’t like tea.”

  “You’ll like this,” Landon insisted. “And if you want answers, you have to drink it.”

  Being told what to do irritated her, but Avery took the cup; she’d sought them out after all. The delicate white cup warmed her hands while she sipped the crisp, minty tea. She had to admit it was delicious as it warmed her to the tips of her toes.

  “Who painted the mural?” she asked.

  Landon’s face lit up. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “Alex did it for me.”

  “He’s really talented.”

  Landon’s face shone with pride as she nodded. “He is.”

  Avery sipped the tea again as she focused on her sneakers.

  “Your powers are hidden inside of you,” Reid said when the silence stretched. “You have to open your heart and mind to let them out.”

  And just how was she supposed to do that? She wasn’t a closed-minded individual, or at least she didn’t consider herself one. She listened to all sides of an argument before forming an opinion, and she admitted when she was wrong. She’d been wrong when she confronted Willy Joates because she’d believed he started the rumor they’d hooked up under the bleachers during the homecoming game. It turned out it wasn’t Willy but some girl trying to start trouble. Avery had apologized to him a few times after, but Willy still disliked her, and she didn’t blame him.

  But how did she open her mind to go searching inside herself for something she wasn’t sure existed?

  “Do you like the tea?” Landon asked. “It’s an herbal mixture that will relax you, and it’s the first step in awakening your powers.”

  “It’s good,” Avery admitted.

  Landon sat on the bed across from her and rested her hands on her knees. “I know you belong with us; I feel it, but the missing birthmark is so strange. It’s marked every witch around here for generations.”

  Feeling like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, Avery shifted her hold on the cup and held out her left wrist to reveal her birthmark. Landon blinked at it, and Reid stepped closer to inspect the mark over his sister’s shoulder. They stared at the mark before looking at her.

  “It’s on your left wrist and not your right,” Landon said.

  Avery shrugged and dropped her hand. “I’m a lefty, so maybe that has something to do with it.”

  “It must,” Landon murmured.

  “I have an identical one on my left hip too.”

  Landon and Reid’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re double marked?” Reid asked.

  “Ah… I’m not sure what that means, but I guess,” Avery said.

  “It’s nothing bad,” Landon said quickly. “We’ve just never heard of it happening before. Do you mind if I see the other mark?”

  “No.” Avery finished her tea and rose to pull down the edge of her jean shorts. She revealed the second birthmark on the bone of her left hip.

  Landon and Reid both stared at it before glancing at each other. Avery tugged her shorts back into place and sat on the trunk again. Then Landon started to chuckle.

  “What’s so funny?” Reid inquired.

  “That is going to piss Sandra off,” Landon said and laughed harder. “She was convinced Avery didn’t belong in the coven because she lacked the mark, and it turns out she has two.”

  Reid chuckled too. “It is going to piss her off.”

  Avery couldn’t help but smile along with them as she thought of this revelation wiping away some of Sandra’s smug superiority. Landon leaned back on her bed and wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “What time is it?” Avery asked.

  Landon glanced at her watch. “Almost nine.”

  “Oh!” Avery lurched to her feet. “I have to go. My dad is probably worried about me, and I forgot my phone when I left home.” Normally, she never went anywhere without it, but she’d been so desperate to flee from everything that she’d forgotten it in her rush.

  “You should stay here tonight,” Landon said. “We still have to awaken your powers.”

  Avery placed the cup on Landon’s nightstand. “My dad needs the car for work tomorrow.”

  “We’ll come with you then.”

  Avery bit her lip as she glanced between the two of them. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Your dad won’t mind,” Landon said.

  Avery glanced between them as she tried to decide what to do. She was afraid of everything going on and the changes rapidly happening in her life, but she’d come this far, and she couldn’t back down now.

  “All right,” she said. “He’d probably like to meet you anyway.”

  • • •

  By the time Avery pulled into the driveway and turned the car off, it was after ten o’clock. Her dad was usually in bed by now, but all the lights in the living room were on. She opened the door and stepped into the cooling night.

  In the distance, the ocean crashed against the shore, and the sea breeze tickled her cheeks as she waited for Landon and Reid to join her. They walked with her to the front steps and climbed onto the porch behind her.

  She was about to open the door when her dad flung it wide. With a vein throbbing in his forehead, he looked ready to launch into a tirade, but then his eyes darted past her, and his anger ebbed. He glanced at her before stepping aside to allow them entrance.

  Avery led the way into the living room and settled onto her favorite, overstuffed armchair. She stifled a yawn as Landon and Reid remained standing near her dad. On the ride there, the twins had explained everything that would occur if she allowed it, but she’d been too tired and scared to understand everything they said.

  “You didn’t take your phone,” her dad said to her.

  “I know, I’m sorry,” she murmured, and this time she couldn’t stifle a yawn as she placed a hand over her mouth.

  “Hmm,” he grunted before turning his attention to Landon and Reid. “Hello.”

  “Hi,” Reid and Landon said at the same time.

  “I’m Reid.”

  “And I’m Landon.”

  Her dad’s grin warmed Avery’s heart. She couldn’t recall the last he’d smiled like that. It was then she realized everything he left behind when he moved off the island, but why hadn’t he at least kept in touch with his friends there?

  If this was all true, she could understand him wanting to give her a normal life, but she didn’t understand the lack of communication with his friends. Why go to such lengths for this so-called normal life?

  Her mind was too exhausted to try to wade through this puzzle.

  “You’re Tom and Deb
orah’s children,” her dad said.

  “Yes,” Landon replied. “They’ve told us a lot about you.”

  His smile deepened, but a wealth of sadness lingered in his eyes. “How are they doing?”

  “They’re really good.”

  “Tell them I said hello.”

  “We will,” Reid assured him.

  When her dad’s gaze settled on Avery, the smile slid from his lips. “I’ll leave you alone now.”

  Hesitating, he looked about to say more, but he turned away instead. Avery hated the sorrow she’d seen in his eyes before he left, but she had no idea how to ease it or what caused it. When she felt Landon and Reid’s gazes on her, she resisted the urge to call her dad back and turned to face them.

  “I think we should get started,” Reid said; his eyes were tender and caring when they met hers.

  Time to plunge into insanity, she decided. “What do I have to do?”

  CHAPTER 10

  Landon walked over and clasped Avery’s hands in her warm ones. “Listen to your heart. It will tell you what to do.”

  “Close your eyes,” Reid instructed. “The herbs in the tea have enabled your natural defenses to weaken. If you dig deep within yourself, your power will come forward on its own.”

  She stared skeptically at them before closing her eyes and trying to relax. It was easier said than done with two people standing over her, but as Landon’s hands warmed hers, Avery’s shoulders gradually relaxed.

  She pushed aside all her reservations while she searched for the voice that had tried to warn her about Lila. Instinctively, she sensed the voice was a part of her that would help her get through this. Warmth spread through her limbs, and her body felt lighter than ever before as her mind drifted away from it. She wondered if the herbs had a hallucinogenic property, and then found she didn’t care.

  Here, the voice suddenly called into the abyss surrounding her.

  Instead of shoving it aside as she’d done earlier, Avery drifted toward it until she felt as if she were joining with something. She experienced a second of panic and tried to fight the strange pull, but it was too late.

  A powerful tide was already sweeping her away, and though it was frightening and impossible to resist, it somehow felt right as a hole inside her filled. A tingle swept her spine, along with an odd feeling of anticipation as words swarmed her mind. They came so fast she couldn’t grasp them and didn’t understand them, but they felt as right as the endless tide.

  Then the room lurched back into sudden stillness, and she was thrust into her body again. She once again felt the warmth of Landon’s hands and the solidness of the cushions beneath her. Avery’s heart raced as her body tensed in anticipation and excitement. She had no idea what had happened, but all her doubts were suddenly put to rest.

  Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes to find Reid and Landon kneeling before her. “Are you okay?” Reid asked.

  “Yes,” she said in a stronger voice than she’d expected.

  Avery released her grip on Landon and unfolded her legs to stand. When she went to rise, her legs wobbled, and she almost face-planted. Reid caught her before she squished her nose into her face, and he guided her back down. A blush burned her face; there was nothing like nearly requiring a nose job to impress the hot guy.

  When his hand slid to the bare flesh of her forearm, electricity ran through her, and she searched his face for some sign he’d felt the same thing. The black fringe of lashes framing his eyes made them more silver as he gazed at her in awe. Avery fought the urge to stroke his cheek and run her fingers through his thick hair.

  “Take a minute to get reoriented,” he said in a thick voice as his fingers caressed her skin. “How do you feel?”

  The sensations his fingers stirred to life within her made it difficult to respond at first, but she managed to take stock of her body. She felt slightly dizzy but good. She also felt whole and complete, and… powerful?

  Yes! She suddenly felt powerful and alive in a way she’d never believed possible. The more Avery searched herself for how she felt, the more she realized everything around her sizzled with an energy she’d never experienced before.

  “A little confused, but great,” she admitted.

  “Anything else?”

  Avery frowned as she pondered his question. She felt self-conscious telling them about the power she sensed in herself and emanating from the things around her. She barely knew them. Would they think her crazy and strange?

  “I feel whole,” she reluctantly admitted. “I know that sounds weird, but—”

  “No, it doesn’t,” Landon assured her. “That’s the way you’re supposed to feel. Anything else?”

  “I feel… powerful.”

  The twins grinned at each other.

  “Now you have to use that power,” Reid said to Avery.

  Doubt rose to replace her newfound sense of rightness. “What? How?”

  “Come on.”

  Keeping hold of her forearm, he helped her to her feet. Avery was so busy trying to puzzle out what had happened to her that she didn’t notice he’d led her outside until the air tickled her cheeks. In front of them, Landon was descending the stairs to the beach.

  The air felt tangible as she strolled through it, and every atom seemed separate and alive. The particles swirled out of the way before coming back together to swallow the holes their passing created.

  Stretching out her hand, Avery tried to touch the particles, but though she saw them in a whole new way, they drifted away from her fingers. Landon stopped at the edge of the ocean as water rolled onto the shore before slipping back into the sea as if it had never been there. Halting beside his sister, Reid kept hold of Avery when her legs threatened to give out again.

  Gazing across the tranquil sea and listening to the gentle ebb and flow of it against the sand, Avery knew it was the same ocean she’d grown up with, but the energy rippling off it caressed her skin. Beneath her sneakers, the ground vibrated as its life force seeped into her body. She’d always appreciated nature, and especially the ocean, but she felt as if she’d been sleeping her entire life and was just now experiencing it. Something was building inside her, but she had no idea what it was or what would happen if she released it.

  “Close your eyes and say the first words that come into your mind,” Reid instructed her.

  Taking a deep breath, Avery closed her eyes and searched for the words from earlier. At first, they came too fast for her to grasp, but finally they slowed enough for her to understand some of them. When she opened her eyes, words spilled from her mouth.

  “Fire and air, earth and water, I call upon thee to welcome me.” She’d never uttered anything like it before, but the words felt right to her.

  When she finished speaking, the pressure building inside her broke free. Her heart raced as the previously tranquil sea churned up a froth of white-capped waves five feet away from shore. The small cluster of waves rolled over the top of each other as they crashed onto the beach.

  Whereas before the sea hadn’t reached her feet, now the water spilled over her sneakers and seeped inside them. She didn’t feel its cold; instead, warmth spread through her as she realized the sea was welcoming her in some strange way. Then as quickly as the churned-up water surfaced, it vanished, and the ocean resumed its previously tranquil state.

  Feeling alive with the unfamiliar power crackling through her, Avery opened her mouth to say more of the words racing through her mind, but before she could speak, Reid did.

  “I think that’s enough,” Reid said. “You can’t tire your powers out already.”

  Avery had never felt more alive, and she didn’t want to stop now, but the look in Reid and Landon’s eyes silenced her before she could protest. They knew more about this than she did. Maybe if she did too much too fast, she would exhaust whatever this was inside her, and it would never return. Avery bit back her protests as the possibility of losing this chilled her more than her yearly polar plunge into the oce
an on New Year’s Day. She’d just found whatever this was, and she would not chance losing it.

  A twinge on her left wrist had her turning it over to look. Her mouth dropped when she saw her mark was glowing an orange-red color that made it look as if it were on fire. “That’s normal,” Reid said, “and it will fade soon.”

  Avery continued to stare at her wrist before lowering her arm and tugging the edge of her shorts down. The mark on her hip was also glowing, but as she watched, the color from it faded. “What causes it?” she asked.

  “We’re not sure,” Landon said. “It happened to our parents too, but there’s no record of it happening to any covens before them.”

  “Interesting,” she murmured. “What now?”

  Reid’s eyes were a silver beacon in the night as he smiled at her. “Now, you’ve been awakened.”

  “That’s all there is to it?” she asked.

  “For now,” Landon confirmed. “There is more, but that can wait until tomorrow. And for the most important step, we need the rest of the coven.”

  Avery wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of seeing some of them again, but she’d deal with that when the time came. “I feel so alive,” she whispered.

  When Reid squeezed her hand, he drew her attention back to him. A shiver ran through her as she studied his handsome countenance. Not only was he breathtaking, but something about him strangely affected her. She’d never felt such an intense attraction to someone before, and it scared her as much as it captivated her.

  “Come on,” Landon murmured. “I’m exhausted.”

  Avery had to agree. This had been the longest, most confusing, terrifying, sad, and exhilarating day of her life. She needed some rest and time alone to try and get her emotions under control.

  “So am I,” she admitted.

  They released her hands, and Avery walked beside them to her house and up the steps. She’d let out some of it, but the humming tension persisting inside her ached to be released. For some reason, she couldn’t rid herself of the feeling she’d just embraced her destiny with these people.

  They crossed the porch and stopped outside the sliding door. When Avery glanced up, her gaze landed on her reflection in the glass, and she gawked at herself. Her eyes, which had always been pretty but an ordinary dark blue, now shone with the same odd radiance her parents and the twins possessed. The blue of them was more brilliant than any sapphire, and when her fingers touched the corner of one eye in the glass, she realized her reflection wasn’t playing some strange trick on her.