Cursed Legacy: The Windhaven Witches Series

by Carissa Andrews

  Again, my gaze flits to Dominic. Things are just as ominous for me now as they were when he said the same thing to his mother.

  He takes a deep breath, cramming his hands into his pockets. “Look, Autumn, I know this is the last thing you want to do right now, but it’s really important to me. And if all goes according to plan, me leveling up might be the one thing you need in order to protect yourself from this curse. Obviously, your dad’s research didn’t save him. This isn’t just about Wade anymore.”

  I stand up. “Don’t you think I know that?”

  “Well, then, what the hell are you waiting for?” he spits back.

  I blink back angry tears and I ask myself the same question. Then, it finally dawns on me. It has nothing to do with helping him with this, or even the timing so much.

  “I’ve been surrounded by death from the moment I came back to Windhaven. I just lost my dad, my boyfriend’s in the ER, and as you said, time is running out for everyone. Myself and my baby included,” I say softly, my hands instinctively lowering to my abdomen. “Why would I want to intentionally kill a friend, just to test whether or not I can bring him back? Right now, it seems like an insane gamble.”

  Dominic’s blue eyes widen and for a moment, he doesn’t say anything.

  I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Look, I know you think I only reach out to you when I need something, and maybe there’s some truth in that. But you’re one of my good friends, Dominic. I don’t have many of those and I don’t want to lose you, too,” I whisper.

  His chin juts out, rolling it from side to side as he fights the emotion welling in his eyes. “Yeah, well…the feeling is mutual,” he says, his voice cracking. “There’s just one difference.”

  “What’s that?” I say, looking at him from under my eyebrows.

  “I don’t think it’s a completely insane gamble.” His lips twitch slightly.

  I roll my eyes, dropping my gaze to the phone still clutched in my hand. Wade’s stable, but for how long? Dominic’s right, we need more answers and if getting him to level up his abilities could help us with this, maybe it really is the answer we’ve been looking for.

  “All right, what do we do next? How do we make this work?” I say, biting down on my lip to keep it from quivering.

  Ending anything isn’t my specialty—and deliberately ending a friend’s life is so far out of my comfort zone, I can’t even fathom it.

  “From what I’ve been able to gather, we just need to stop my heart from beating. Then, you bring me back,” he says, far more calmly than I would, if roles were reversed.

  “You make it sound like you’re just going to the grocery store or something,” I mutter, raking my fingertips over my face.

  “Well, it’s the way it works,” he says, shrugging. “You were going to be a forensic scientist in a past life, right? Surely you have to know a thing or two about how to manage this?”

  I glare at him. “I wanted to understand how people died so I could solve their deaths and bring peace to the people who loved them. Not use my abilities as a way to make them die. I’m not a sociopath.”

  “Well, it only needs to be for a few seconds,” he says, trying to sound reasonable. “Don’t you—I don’t know, doesn’t your grimoire have information on how to make something like this happen?”

  I make a face and snicker. “I highly doubt that.”

  Dominic paces back and forth for a moment, rubbing his hand across his mouth. “All right, I just need to go into cardiac arrest, right? Damn, where’s Cat when you need her?”

  “Cat? What’s she got to do with this?” I snort.

  “Well, she can manipulate fire and electricity. She coulda shocked the hell out of me.” A dry laugh leaves his lips.

  “Since when can she manipulate electricity?” I ask, surprised.

  Dominic stares back at me incredulously. “You really do suck at checking in with friends.”

  I sigh, starting to get irritated again. “Come on. Let’s go to the Resurrection Chamber and I’ll summon Abigail. Maybe she’ll know something I don’t.”

  I stalk past him and over to the small door leading to the basement. After my father’s Lemure destroyed half of the house, I didn’t have the heart to redesign the door into anything more than what it was. It felt sacrilegious somehow. So, while it’s still half the size of a normal door, the new stairs are far more stable. They’re now crafted in stone slabs rather than rickety wooden planks.

  When we reach the sandy floor, Dominic stops, taking a good look around. He doesn’t say anything—he doesn’t have to. The mess took weeks to clean up, but thankfully, the majority of the stones from the walls were able to be repaired and put back. In fact, if you didn’t know about the destruction, nothing about the space looks out of the ordinary.

  “Abigail,” I call out, knowing that she’ll come to me without question now. After my father’s soul was laid to rest, the extra energy and effort she had to expel trying to keep him under control is no longer necessary. She now comes and goes as easily as any of us, which is both a relief and unnerving.

  Within seconds, she’s by my side, giving Dominic a curious, arched eyebrow. Then she turns her curiosity to me. “What is it, child?”

  “Abigail, we need your help. Do you know…” I drop my gaze, unsure how this will sound to her. “Do you now how to instigate a death for the sake of being brought back?”

  Her lips press into a thin line. “Is this the conception of the Crane boy?”

  Dominic narrows his gaze. “What is she saying? I can feel her presence, but she’s blocking me out.”

  I glance his direction. “I don’t think she’s impressed with your plan.”

  He shrugs, as if he expected as much.

  “Dominic thinks he might be able to help our family. But he feels the only way to do that is by leveling up his powers,” I say, choosing my words carefully. If Abigail knows this could be to the benefit of our lineage, she’ll be more inclined to help.

  Stepping away from me, she wrings her hands and shakes her head. “This is a most dreadful idea. The eternal law of self-preservation may prevent any of this—”

  “But is he right? Is it possible for him to increase his powers this way?” I ask, suddenly intensely curious.

  If he can, does that explain Cat’s new ability to manipulate electricity as well as fire?

  Abigail steels herself for a moment, then turns back to me. “It is risky, to be certain. He must lift the veil, separating himself from the earthly and astral planes. He must voyage to the other side, connecting with the source of his powers, before being summoned back. Should any of these pieces go wrong…”

  “But it’s possible,” I say, latching onto the one thing that gives me a glimmer of hope.

  Her lips press tightly, but she nods.

  Dominic steps forward, his eyes sweeping around the stone chamber. “Abigail, I know this probably sounds insane to you, but it’s important. Trust me.”

  His final words resonate with such strong sentiment, I suck in a breath. He’s desperate to do this, but he truly believes this is the only way. Whether it’s for himself, or for the sake of my family, I don’t know. But if the results are the same, I don’t care.

  Abigail’s forehead creases, but she drops her chin and whispers. “There is a way for a necromancer to help lift the veil for another.”

  “Good—that’s good. Right?” I say.

  “What is it?” Dominic asks.

  I hold up an index finger to have him wait a moment.

  “The magic is but a remnant; however, I am quite certain it would do as you ask,” she says.

  “Fine,” I say, shaking my head. “What do we need to do?”

  Apprehension and anxiety roll themselves into one big ball in my stomach, and my imagination rolls through different ways I might have to employ to kill Dominic. I shudder them away.

  “As necromancers, our natural state is to tread lightly between the world of the living and that of the de
ad. The veil is not an obstacle for us the way it is for most. If a soul is coaxed from a body with the correct potion, it will simulate death, and we may be able to guide it across from this side. However, should his soul linger there for too long…” Her voice lowers in a warning.

  “He won’t be able to return,” I finish for her.

  She nods.

  Dominic’s eyes widen as he watches me.

  Turning to him I say, “Abigail thinks it can be done. But it’ll take time. We need to create a potion, I guess. Something that will force your soul from your body.”

  Dominic’s face pulls in tight and he reaches into his jeans pocket. “You’ve gotta understand, I’ve felt this coming for a while. Okay? But today, I went into a trance trying to find my way to make this work and when I came to, I had written some ingredients on a piece of paper,” he says, grinning sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure what it was, but I figured I’d use it as my last resort if you didn’t help. Guess that wasn’t why I was called to create it.”

  He reaches his hand out, dropping a small vial into my palm. I pick it up, spinning it between my fingertips. The liquid glows with a strange purple, glittery energy. Holding it out to Abigail, I ask, “Does this look like the potion we need? Or is this something else?”

  Abigail steps forward, peering into the depths of it. After a moment, she nods. “It appears to be so. Does the Crane boy remember its contents?”

  “She wants to know what’s in it,” I say, relaying the message.

  Dom shrugs. “Not much, really. Lavender, lemon mixed with holy water, and powdered belladonna root. Oh, and a drop of my blood, for some reason.”

  Abigail watches him closely. “What of its creation? Was it warmed with the Necrosis Flame?”

  “Did you use the Necrosis Flame to stew the ingredients?” I ask, sighing heavily.

  “What the hell is the Necrosis Flame? That sounds like it should be your area of expertise, not mine,” he sputters.

  Immediately, any hopes that we might have an easy way out of this are dashed. I turn back to Abigail, who says, “All is not lost. The Crane boy is right; this is more our area of expertise.”

  “Okay?” I say, enclosing the vial in my palm.

  “The Necrosis Flame can be summoned by a necromancer for various reasons. Some are intentional, while others are not. In a necromancer, it often springs forth as visual indicator or warning system that someone’s life force is in a state of active disturbance. But when used intentionally, it produces an ethereal flame capable of brewing the Feign Death Potion,” she says, tipping her chin high as she clasps her hands behind her back.

  “The Feign Death Potion?” I say, practically laughing at the name.

  “Is that what this is?” Dominic asks.

  I nod. “Almost.”

  “Because I am no longer of the living, I cannot spring forth this flame, but you can, my dear. You simply need to concentrate on it to make it happen,” Abigail says, beginning to pace.

  “Concentrate? Like with the astral projection? Or—?”

  “Have you never felt a time when the Necrosis Flame was triggered unintentionally?” she asks.

  Shaking my head, I snicker. “Not that I can think of.”

  But suddenly, my wry laughter is cut short as I think of all those times with Colton.

  “What is it?” Abigail asks, narrowing her gaze.

  Inhaling a deep breath, I tilt my head, shifting through all of the times the flames erupted with Colton. “I think maybe I have, actually.”

  “Good, then you know its vibration. I want you to close your eyes and call upon it.”

  Doing as I’m told, I close my eyes, thinking about Colton and the flames. I have no idea the flames were a warning about his life force—and it suddenly has me worrying that he might not be as immortal as everyone thinks he is.

  However, when I open my eyes, I look down to find my hand consumed by the same orange and blue flames. And though it’s fully engulfed by it, my hand is completely unscathed. However, inside my palm, the contents of the vial begin to boil.

  I stare down at the bubbling liquid until, abruptly, the flames go out.

  “I believe we can now proceed,” she says, her face stoic. “But do so cautiously.”

  Nodding to her, I turn to Dominic and hold the vial back out to him.

  “I have no idea what just happened. You know that, right?” he mutters, accepting the small glass object.

  “That’s okay. All you need to know is we’re ready to go now,” I say.

  “He will wish to be lying down before drinking the potion. It takes but seconds to work,” Abigail says, continuing to pace around the room like a caged animal.

  “Dominic, lie down on the floor, then drink the potion,” I say, pointing to the middle of the room.

  Without another thought, he tips his chin in acknowledgement, then moves to sit down. Uncorking the top, he doesn’t even verify the timing or go over the plan again. He just slams the contents and lets the empty vial clatter across the ground.

  He opens his mouth, probably to say something, but his eyes immediately roll to the back of his head. I dash over, reaching him just in time to ease his torso to the ground.

  “Now, you must focus on summoning his soul from his body. See in your mind’s eye walking with him through the veil from this world to the next, but do not allow yourself to be pulled with him. You must stay on this side in order to awaken him,” Abigail says, her furrowed eyebrows scrunched in thought.

  “Nothing to it,” I whisper to myself, unsure any of this is a good idea at all. But at least it’s in motion and I have no choice but to make this work.

  Still kneeling beside him, I close my eyes and focus on calling Dominic’s soul from the confines of his body. Behind my eyelids a bright, blue orb forms.

  “Good. Very good,” Abigail mutters her approval. There’s a strange admiration in her tone and I know this must be something she wishes she could do for herself.

  I settle into the energy, allowing it to fill up my perception. It’s not all that unlike astral-projecting, but it feels different. Denser somehow. It doesn’t take long to latch onto Dominic’s energy, but rather than forming as a person, I continue to see the blue orb within my mind’s eye. A silver string also extends from the orb, making its way out of the darkness. Suddenly, as if the orb knows what it needs to do, it sails out and away from me. It vanishes through time and space, pulled somehow into what seems like a black hole. However, the silver string remains, floating like chemtrails in the air.

  When I open my eyes, I realize it’s attached to his abdomen.

  “The rest is now up to him,” Abigail says. “He had but moments, so be ready.”

  I nod, exhaling a tense breath.

  While astral-projecting is similar, walking to the edge of the veil was something else. There was a darkness beyond—an energy that consumed all light, if you weren’t careful. And I’m not sure whether or not sending Dominic into that was a wise choice.

  “It is time,” Abigail says. “Summon the boy back.”

  Nodding to her, I close my eyes, and take a deep breath. Unlike when I tried to bring Cat back, there’s a deep, powerful connection—like a direct line that binds us together. I can already tell that I don’t need some of the other ingredients, like the blood—or even the invocation. His soul, the bright blue orb, is right before me. All I need to do is encourage him to return to his vessel.

  Like a conductor, I raise my arms in front of me, trying to guide it back to where it belongs.

  “That’s it,” Abigail says, her voice lifting in tone. “Continue with the intention.”

  Exhaling any nervous energy, I focus on the orb, directing it lower. When it reaches Dominic’s body, it hovers there. Rather than sinking back into his body, the energy is more like two magnets with opposing forces trying to connect.

  “Something is not right,” I say, narrowing my gaze and trying harder.

  “He is choosing to stay separat
ed,” Abigail says, her eyes distant.

  “What?” I spit. “Why would he do that?”

  Abigail shakes her head. “Of that, I do not know.”

  “Goddammit, Dominic,” I cry out, dropping to my knees and shaking his body. “Get your ass back to me. You promised you’d help me.”

  A new kind of panic flashes through me and I rake my fingers through my hair.

  What is he doing? This is the last thing I need right now and he knows that.

  So, why the hell won’t he come back?

  Chapter 15

  The Other Side

  My blood boils, and I imagine the various ways I’m going to kick Dominic’s ass when I finally get him back.

  “Come back. Right now,” I cry out, clutching at his shoulders and shaking his torso. The silver string remains, but with each passing moment, it seems to fade.

  His body is limp and the edges of his lips are taking on a faint bluish tint.

  I shake my head in disbelief. “Oh, no you don’t…”

  Closing my eyes, I try to tap into universal energies and the deeper parts of my gifts—parts I didn’t know existed, as I try to summon him back. Without thinking about the words, they spring to my lips. “Dominic Crane—wandering soul, I summon you back from the realm of the dead. Return, fragments of soul and self, from that of the spirit realm, to re-inhabit the body.”

  I open my eyes and for a brief moment, the blue orb of light grows brighter, but it doesn’t get any closer to his body.

  “Fuck,” I spit, slamming the side of my fist into the dirt. “What am I doing wrong?”

  “This is of no one’s doing but his own. The boy is refusing to come back,” Abigail whispers feverishly beside my ear.

  “How do I get him back?” I say through gritted teeth.

  Abigail’s lips press tight and she shakes her head.

  “Don’t you dare tell me there’s no way,” I say, reeling on her. “There has to be a way. I’ll drag him back kicking and screaming if I have to.”

  Her eyebrows tug in and her nostrils flare as if the thought of it is distasteful. However, she whispers, “If you are to stand any chance, it would come at great risk.”