Nightmares (The Coven, Book 1)

by Erica Stevens

As Celia wrapped her arms around Regan’s neck, she smiled sweetly at Marjorie. “This is a private party,” Celia murmured as she kissed Regan’s neck.

  Marjorie’s face fell, and anger flashed in her eyes. “I’ll go,” she relented.

  She stalked down the beach before disappearing in a shimmering mist. Avery stared at the place where she’d vanished before hugging herself in a weak attempt to ease the chill encasing her.

  Are these people ghosts? Is any of this real? What is Regan doing to me?

  “I never knew what love was until I met you,” Celia said sweetly.

  “Adrian can’t compete?” Regan asked.

  “Never.”

  “I told you we were meant to be together and how good it would feel once we joined.”

  “You were right. My soul, my heart, my mind, and my body all belong to you,” Celia vowed.

  “For now and always?”

  “For eternity.”

  The passionate tone of Celia’s voice and the word sent a shiver of revulsion through Avery. Celia didn’t care that she’d hurt Adrian or appear to be under any spell from Regan as her eyes shone with her love and her words spoke of it.

  Please don’t let this be real, Avery pleaded. Please let this be something Regan made up.

  “Eternity was right.”

  Avery twisted to find Regan standing behind her. When she glanced back at the beach, she discovered Regan and Celia were gone. “Maybe for her, but not for me,” she managed to say.

  When he walked forward to kneel before her, his blue signet ring flashed in the moonlight as he placed an elegant finger beneath her chin to lift it. “Even more for you.” His voice was velvet seduction. “I know you feel the connection between us, and I am the only one who can truly understand you and the power you possess. The others fear what you can do, but I don’t. We were created for each other.”

  Avery longed to remove her chin from his grasp, but his electric blue eyes enchanted her. Fight this. Fight him!

  His finger stroked the tender skin beneath her chin as he once again weaved his way into her soul. “Let yourself feel it, Avery. Open your heart to acknowledge what is within you.”

  He’s right, a voice inside her whispered. You are meant for each other. The others are afraid of you; he’s the only one who can truly understand you!

  When her gaze fell to his lips, she trembled in excitement.

  “You feel the bond between us,” he whispered.

  “Yes.” She didn’t know where the word came from, but it sprang to her lips and slipped free before she recalled thinking it. Then, out of nowhere, it came again. “Yes.”

  Leaning closer, his lips brushed hers, and a dozen vibrant sensations erupted through her. The power flowing between them enveloped her in a velvet cocoon of warmth and desire.

  This is right! Her mind screamed. This is what you’ve been waiting for and missing! This is what Reid—

  CHAPTER 36

  Remembrance knocked away the hypnotizing effect Regan had over her. She reeled backward in the sand as she wiped frantically at her mouth to rid herself of the feel of him.

  “No!” she cried. “I don’t want this or you! I want my friends and Reid.”

  When rage blazed out of Regan, Avery recoiled from the fury that blistered against her skin and battered her body until she was overwhelmed by the certainty he would kill her. She tried to draw on her power to defend herself, but even as she was pulling on the energy around her, his wrath was battering it down again.

  “You’ll see,” he snarled. “I’ll show you what loyalty to your friends will bring you.”

  A scream ripped from her as the world lurched away and she plunged into a vortex of hate and battering wind that would have taken any house to Oz. Was Regan incensed enough to kill her? Was that what this vortex was designed to do?

  The rage filling the maelstrom beat at her soul, tore clothes, and yanked her hair until tears stung her eyes. Constricting beneath the pressure, her ribs felt like they would crush her heart as her breath was squeezed from her. He was going to kill her; she was sure of it.

  Then it abruptly ended, and she was thrown free of the chaos. Her abrupt landing jarred her spine, and blood flowed into her mouth when she chomped on her tongue. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she lifted her head to look around.

  It took her a moment to realize she was still on the beach, but this time she was at the entrance of a cave she’d never seen before. The swirling colors radiating from within the cave’s murky depths cast light onto the beach and across her hands.

  Curiosity about those colors enabled her to rise and stumble toward the entrance. Voices drifted to her, and she placed her hand on the wall for support as her battered body protested each of her steps. The moisture-laden air danced over her flesh as it lent her the strength of its currents.

  While she walked, her fingers trailed over the different rock formations, and she drew strength from the earth. The more power she pulled from it, the better her body felt until she could walk without limping or worrying her legs would give out.

  After a few hundred feet, the cave opened into a large cavern that was alight with a myriad of colors dancing in a fire, and Avery realized this coven had used their dust to help ignite the flames. The colors of the dust reflected in the pink and white crystallized stalactites hanging from the ceiling and the matching stalagmites rising from the floor.

  The coven stood in the center of the cavern with their hands clasped as they formed a circle around Celia, Regan, and Marjorie. There were no stalagmites in the smooth area where they stood, but the large crystals formed a protective circle outside of them. There was no break overhead though, and the stalactites hung ominously above them.

  “You can’t do this!” Celia screamed. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

  “Yes, we do,” Beatrix stated with a remorselessness that made Avery’s eyebrows rise.

  “You’re relinquishing your powers too!” Marjorie yelled.

  “So be it,” Archie replied.

  Regan’s strides were brisk and determined as he stalked toward the coven, but before he could reach them, a wall of light shot up to block him. When he smashed his fists against it, the light wavered but held firm against his violent attack.

  “You’ll pay for this!” he bellowed.

  “We already have,” Adrian replied as he gazed at Celia.

  “Begin, Elmer,” Beatrix commanded.

  With his hands interlocked in Kate’s and Clarence’s, Elmer stepped forward. “I call upon the power of fire to scorch away your desires!” he yelled.

  Avery hadn’t noticed the candle at Elmer’s feet until its flame surged up to combine with the wall keeping Regan restrained. The coven also had their crystals at their feet and piles of herbs. Some of the crystals were the same as the ones that belonged to the members of her coven, but others were different, and she couldn’t name them. She recognized some of the herbs like lavender, clove, mugwort, and sandalwood, but she didn’t know the others.

  When Elmer moved back, Kate stepped forward. “I call upon the power of water to saturate your powers!”

  Water rose from the bowl at Kate’s feet to mix with the light and fire until the liquid’s clear depths swirled beside the wall of flame.

  Kate retook her place, and Clarence stepped toward the wall as he spoke. “I call upon the power of air to suffocate the evil you bear!”

  The cold wind rushing past Avery pushed her against the wall as it raced to join the water and fire.

  Wallace went next. “I call upon the power of the earth to bury the evil you bear!”

  The sand and dirt covering the cave floor rose before him and coursed forth to join the other elements.

  Archie followed Wallace. “I call upon the power of fire to sear away the power you bear!” he cried.

  The fire before Archie poured forth and circled the wall entrapping Regan, Celia, and Marjorie.

  Adele was the next to go. “I call up
on the power of water to drown and quench all of your powers!” The water before her rolled forth and intertwined with the other elements.

  Adrian went next; his shoulders were set, but his voice quivered when he cast his spell. “I call upon the power of air to smother the power you bear!”

  More wind whipped past Avery to join the circle.

  “How could you?” Celia shrieked. “You said you loved me, Adrian! How could you destroy me like this?”

  Adrian’s eyes fell to the cavern floor as he edged away, and Beatrix stepped forward. “I call upon the power of the earth to bury your powers in the dirt!”

  More sand rose up to join the rising crescendo of light now quaking the walls beneath Avery’s fingers. She eyed the stalactites overhead when they started vibrating, and bits of dust rained down. The colorful dust and elements swirled together as power swelled within the cavern walls.

  “We call upon earth, air, fire, and water to aid us in quenching this evil. In return, we offer our powers, and the power of our family, to bind theirs!” the coven chanted together as Regan’s face contorted in fury.

  Avery staggered back when the earth rolled and buckled beneath her feet. The air in the cave became thicker and harder to breathe as electricity crackled the air. Regan’s scream bounced off the walls as the voices of the coven rose higher while they repeated the same binding words.

  “One hundred years is all you’ll have!” Regan thundered. “You cannot bind me for longer, and I will set your descendants free!”

  With a loud bang that made Avery’s ears pop, the wall of elements and light streamed forth to encircle Celia, Regan, and Marjorie. It encompassed their bodies and hugged them close while their screams echoed throughout the cavern.

  Avery threw her hands over her ears in a failed attempt to block out the sounds of rage and pain as the first stalactite broke free and crashed to the ground ten feet away from the coven. Avery jumped, but they didn’t glance at it as they continued their binding ritual until the circle around Regan and the others vanished. The walls and earth stopped shaking as silence descended and Avery lowered her hands.

  “One hundred years,” Regan said in a menacing voice. “You’ve only bought your families a hundred years of peace.”

  The coven lifted their chins and glared at him. “That is one hundred years without your corruption wreaking havoc on this planet,” Beatrix said.

  A rumbling filled the air, and the earth under Avery’s feet shifted as if a wave of water was cresting beneath it. Avery used the wall to balance herself when the ground heaved upward. The wall quaked beneath her hand as chunks of rock broke free of the ceiling and crashed to the floor. The coven danced back from the lethal stalactites raining down as broken stone scattered around their feet.

  “We have to go!” Beatrix shouted.

  Marjorie ran to Celia, but Avery couldn’t hear what they said to each other before Marjorie fled the cave. Instead of running for freedom, Adrian raced forward and seized Celia’s hand. She stared at him as if she didn’t know him when he tugged at her.

  “Come with me, Celia!” Adrian yelled above the crashing rocks.

  Even from her distance, Avery saw the sheen of tears in Celia’s eyes. “No!” she screamed and ripped away from him. “I’m not leaving Regan.”

  “You’ll die in here!” Adrian yelled.

  Celia threw herself into Regan’s arms. “Then I’ll die!”

  Adrian reached for her again, but she evaded his grasp. “Please, Celia,” he pleaded.

  “Adrian, we have to go!” Beatrix ran to him and gripped his arm.

  “No!” He shook off Beatrix. “Celia, please come with me.”

  “I’m not leaving,” she spat and buried her face against Regan’s chest.

  Wallace, Archie, and Clarence rushed forward to grab Adrian’s arms. He kicked and jerked against their hold as they pulled him back a few feet. More stalactites crashed around them; Kate screamed when a large rock slammed into her shoulder and knocked her to her knees. Adele grasped her arm and tugged her to her feet.

  Screams echoed throughout the cavern as the ghosts of the past rushed toward Avery, seeking the safety outside the cave. Adrian thrashed against the people holding him as they carried him toward Avery.

  “Let her go!” Archie shouted over the thunderous booms of the collapsing ceiling. “It’s too late, Adrian!”

  Adrian slumped in their grasp when the rocks crashing around Celia and Regan cut them off from the others. The ghosts never acknowledged her presence as they ran past her, carrying Adrian with them. Wallace’s arm should have touched hers; instead, it floated straight through.

  They staggered out of the cave as the rubble buried Celia and Regan.

  CHAPTER 37

  When she found herself standing on the beach outside the cave again, Avery wasn’t sure how she got there, but she was glad to be free of the death within. The ghosts were gone, and she was alone on the vast expanse of sand and water. She closed her eyes and inhaled the briny, ocean air as she tried to steady her riotous emotions.

  “They left you.”

  Avery didn’t open her eyes or turn to face Regan when he spoke from in front of her.

  “They left her,” she said.

  “She is you.”

  “I am me. Celia was someone else. I could never be her.”

  “That’s good because I don’t want you to be her. You are something more; you are something better and stronger. You know that’s true because you can feel it.”

  Avery finally opened her eyes and focused on the ocean as she drew strength from its presence. “No, I don’t.”

  She stiffened when he used his index finger to lift her chin until she had to look at him. “Yes, you do,” he whispered.

  “What are you?”

  He laughed as his finger rubbed her chin. “I was wondering when you’d ask that. I’m something you can’t begin to comprehend. I’ve been around since the dawn of time and was created with the world as a way to balance the good in it, so to speak. This is my realm, but because this world is so closely connected to yours, I’ve always traveled freely back and forth between them. I’ve known all of your ancestors, Avery, every single one of them.”

  Try as she might, Avery couldn’t tear her eyes away from his mesmerizing stare. “Are you a demon then?”

  He shrugged negligently. “I suppose you could fit me into your definition of a demon. I could also be a god, goblin, a Djinn, ghost, the Boogeyman, Freddy Krueger, or whatever else you humans call the things that haunt you in the night. All of which is just me.”

  Avery’s throat went dry as the implication of his words sank in. He was so ancient and so powerful and the source of what so many feared. “You are evil then?”

  “Good, evil, does it matter?”

  “Yes.”

  “I embody the powers of evil. So do you.”

  “No, I don’t!”

  “Then where do you think the powers you possess come from?”

  “They come from me!”

  “No, my sweet, they come from Celia. You contain all the power Celia possessed after she joined me; plus, the strength of the powers you would have possessed on your own. Your family line has always been the strongest; even without Celia’s abilities, you were destined to be the strongest witch ever born because those powers have been combining, growing, and passing to you throughout the millennia.”

  Oh, holy crap in a giant Hell handbasket, she had no idea how to deal with any of this. She was in so far over her head that she couldn’t even begin to see a way out of the mounds of crap he kept piling onto her.

  “How was I able to keep Celia’s powers?” she asked.

  “Because I made sure of it.”

  “How?”

  “It was the last spell I cast before that pathetic coven bound my powers on Earth for a hundred years. With the last of my power, I ensured one of Celia’s descendants would wield all the power she possessed. That descendant is you. I also made sure y
ou would know you belonged to me when we met, just as she did.”

  Though she despised herself for it, Avery couldn’t stop the tears of hopelessness filling her eyes. How could she fight against something bestowed on her before she was born? To her dismay, one of those tears slid free, and Regan wiped it away with his thumb.

  She knocked his hand away and scrubbed at her cheeks while she glowered at him. “How did you manage to break free of your plane?”

  The patronizing smile he gave her set her teeth on edge before he lowered his hand. “That coven only had enough power to bind me for a hundred years, love. When the hundred years was over, I broke free of my plane again. I am the one who awakened your parents and the others with a simple spell.”

  “You created the lightning?”

  “I was the lightning.”

  Avery almost sank onto the sand, but she somehow managed to keep her legs braced under her and her face impassive. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he rattled her.

  “After I awakened them, I returned to my plane to wait for my Celia to return. I didn’t know how long the wait would be, but imagine my delight when I recognized Celia’s strength the second you were awakened. Once freed, your powers pierced the veil between our worlds to beckon me. That’s how strong our bond is, how strong you are, and why we were meant to be together.”

  “No, we weren’t.”

  He stepped closer as his voice caressed her body. “Celia loved me so much she chose to die with me. That love lives inside you, Avery.”

  “She was a fool!” Avery cried.

  “No, she wasn’t. She loved me and belonged with me. You belong with me, and your power will set me free.”

  Avery frowned. “Set you free?”

  “With you by my side, I can leave my world, rejoin yours, and we can rule your world.”

  A dawning knowledge descended over Avery. “Their binding spell is broken, but you still can’t leave your plane without me!”

  Seeming to realize he’d slipped up, Regan’s face darkened, and she saw the malevolence slithering beneath his surface. It terrified her more than anything else she’d faced.