The Witches of the Dark Power

by Gabriella Lepore

  Talon’s broad chest rumbled in a petulant growl. He lumbered back to his post beside Finn. The two younger Hunters muttered irritably between one another.

  Amos rubbed his hands together. ‘Now, Siren. No doubt you are prepared. I have known you for many years, and I understand your power lies in empathy. A Sententia, with the ability to hear emotion.’

  ‘Sententia is my power, yes. But I am a Hunter foremost.’

  ‘Well, then, let’s see what you can do. One . . .’

  Wasting no time, Siren darted forward, bypassing the controller altogether. Instead, he swept around Amos and nudged the older man’s shoulder, knocking the control pad to the grass. With one swift kick, Siren sent the little gadget skidding out of reach.

  ‘A good Hunter,’ Siren said in satisfaction, ‘studies his opponent until they notice a flaw in their pattern. Yours, sir, is your predictability to guard the controller, leaving yourself unprotected. As we say here at the Glass Castle, it is imperative to watch your back.’

  Colt smiled and clapped Siren on the back.

  ‘I will be sure to remember that in the future, Siren. Very well done,’ Amos went on.

  But before he could continue, Demetrius pounced upon the control pad and activated the missile. The sphere levitated and tore across the open space, colliding with the tree trunk once again.

  Amos hooted in excitement. ‘Well done, lad!’ he praised Demetrius.

  ‘No!’ Siren barked. ‘That is not allowed!’

  ‘Why not?’ Amos challenged. ‘Your task was to prevent the missile from impacting the target. You failed.’

  ‘Launched by you,’ Siren argued. ‘Not him.’ Siren shot Demetrius a foul look.

  ‘It should come as no surprise that Demetrius’s loyalty lies with me,’ Amos pointed out. ‘Did you not use your power to hear it?’

  ‘I was concentrating on reading you,’ Siren informed. ‘And you seemed to be blocking me somehow,’ he added petulantly.

  ‘Any witch worth his salt can block mind reading,’ Amos reminded him. ‘Enemies don’t play fair. You must be prepared. Remember that,’ he concluded, patting Siren consolingly on the shoulder. He turned to Colt. ‘Coven leader,’ Amos beckoned. ‘Are you ready?’

  Colt raised an eyebrow.

  ‘At the count of three,’ Amos reminded him, steering the sphere back to the starting point. ‘And need I remind you’—at this, he shot a quick look to the other Hunters—‘you are forbidden from using your Tempestus power.’ He raised the control pad, with Demetrius standing by his side at the ready.

  Colt remained perfectly still.

  ‘One . . .’ Amos began.

  At the word, Colt exploded into action. But not towards Amos as Siren and the others had. Instead, Colt shot across the clearing towards the distant white pine, moving so fast that clouds of dust billowed behind him.

  ‘Two . . .’ Amos continued coolly. ‘Three!’ He pressed the activating button and the missile hummed to life. It whizzed forward, doubling Colt’s speed.

  Everyone else watched with bated breath as Colt bent the laws of physics, naturally running faster than any human had ever moved.

  With a fraction of a second to spare, Colt skidded to a stop before the target tree and stuck out his hand to catch the sphere. It landed in his palm with a loud smack. Steam from the missile seeped through his clenched fingers.

  There was a beat of silence before the onlookers erupted into cheers. Only Demetrius remained unmoved.

  Colt jogged back to his coven and tossed the sphere to Amos. ‘Fun game,’ he said, showing no sign of exhaustion.

  Amos smiled and patted him on the back. ‘Nice work! Your speed and agility are your greatest assets, I see. Though I suspect your powers aided you somewhat . . .’

  Colt narrowed his eyes.

  ‘But I’ll let it slide,’ Amos finished with a wink. Finally, he turned to Demetrius. ‘Ready, my boy?’ he asked.

  Towering over Amos, with muscles tugging at the seams of his tight black T-shirt, Demetrius bowed his head.

  ‘One . . .’ Amos began.

  At once, Demetrius was off, loping towards the forest with heavy strides.

  The others watched him curiously as he ran away from Amos . . . and away from the target tree.

  ‘Two . . .’ Amos counted.

  ‘Where’s he going?’ Finn muttered.

  ‘Three!’ Amos raised the control pad and pressed down, launching the missile across the glade.

  Demetrius reached the forest boundaries and wrapped his enormous arms around a large stone on the ground. He unearthed the stone and raised it high above his head, showering clumps of dried mud over the grass.

  Demetrius launched the stone full force at the gliding sphere. It soared through the air and collided into Amos’s missile. The impact knocked the missile off course and it veered away from the huge white pine and crashed into a neighbouring sapling tree with a smack. The force caused the small tree to uproot and topple. Demetrius returned, proud.

  ‘Well done, well done!’ Amos cheered. ‘And with seconds to spare!’

  ‘Well done?’ Colt spluttered. ‘He hit another tree! He killed a bystander!’ He groaned at the sight of the sapling lying flat on the ground amidst a blood-spill of prickly boughs.

  ‘Perhaps a somewhat unnecessary casualty, I’ll admit,’ Amos accepted. ‘But the aim and execution was quite outstanding.’

  ‘Execution is exactly the word!’ Colt exclaimed. ‘If that other tree had been an Arcana under our protection, we’d all have blood on our hands.’

  ‘Ah,’ Amos raised his index finger, ‘but the challenge was not to protect the other trees; it was to protect the white pine and prevent me from reaching my goal.’ He held up the remote control to punctuate his point. ‘And although both you and Demetrius succeeded, I’m afraid Demetrius’s time gave him the advantage.’

  Colt ground his teeth.

  ‘Don’t let envy be your downfall,’ Amos advised.

  ‘The only downfall here is the tree.’

  ‘Colt,’ Amos began calmly, ‘as a Hunter, you should be in control of your emotions.’

  Colt’s jaw dropped. ‘I think it’s safe to say that I can’t control my emotions, yet I defy you to find a better Hunter than me.’

  A few gazes strayed to Demetrius.

  ‘Him?’ Colt choked in outrage. ‘He is not a great Hunter. He’s a glorified lumberjack, for crying out loud!’

  Amos cleared his throat. ‘Perhaps your adrenaline is running too high. Demetrius and I will take the youngsters and the Arcana back to the castle. Why don’t you and Siren do a lap of the forest boundaries to cool off?’

  Colt raised his palms to the sky and brought about an almighty rumble of thunder, then stalked through the mist, disappearing into the web of pines.

  Siren trailed after him, smirking in amusement as he vanished into the thick mist behind his coven leader.

  As the afternoon sun pierced through the winter sky, Dino and Blue sat on the bonnet of the station wagon in the courtyard. Blue was shuffling a deck of playing cards.

  ‘Wanna play twenty-one?’ Blue suggested.

  ‘Okay,’ Dino agreed, although his mind was far from the present moment. He was beginning to feel useless. He was here to protect Mia, but she didn’t seem to want his help. She had Colt for that. Dino couldn’t just hang around the castle forever, waiting for something to happen. What was his role in all of this? What was his purpose?

  Blue lay a card face up on the car bonnet. The seven of diamonds stared back at them.

  ‘Hit me,’ Dino mumbled, absently gesturing for another card.

  Blue flipped over the next card in the deck. The nine of spades.

  ‘Hit me,’ said Dino.

  Blue dealt another card.

  Dino stared intently at the ten of clubs. ‘Hit me.’

  Blue hesitated. ‘B-but you’ve gone over twenty-one.’

  ‘Oh.’ He frowned. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah. By q
uite a b-bit. You’re on, like’—he did a quick mental calculation—‘twenty-six.’

  ‘You’re kidding,’ Dino said, surprised. ‘How did that happen?’

  ‘Well, you had a seven, then a nine, then a ten—’

  ‘That sucks.’ Dino sifted his three cards together and handed them back to his friend. ‘Again?’

  Blue complied, shuffling the deck before laying Dino’s first card on the car bonnet. The two of spades. ‘Hit you?’ he prompted.

  When Dino didn’t respond, Blue looked up from the deck only to find that his friend’s attention was no longer on the game. In fact, Dino’s gaze was drawn to the meadow that was sprawling beyond the grounds.

  Dino strained his eyes to see into the distance. ‘Someone’s there,’ he realised. ‘Who is that?’

  A woman was pacing swiftly across the rolling meadow. Her red hair was flowing wildly in the breeze.

  Dino made a strangled noise. ‘Oh, hell.’

  Blue’s round eyes squinted as he surveyed the meadow. ‘Is that your aunt?’

  Dino exhaled. ‘Yep.’ He hopped down from the station wagon. ‘Well, it was nice knowing you, Blue,’ he said before making a dash for the castle.

  When he reached the entrance, he heaved open the oak door and slammed it shut behind him with a thud.

  ‘Dino!’ he heard Blue calling through the solid oak door. ‘Should I . . .’ There was a pause. ‘Um, hide or something?’

  ‘Couldn’t hurt!’ Dino called back. ‘Forget you know me!’

  From the safety of the castle vestibule, Dino pulled the deadbolt across. He heard the click of high-heeled shoes cross the stone courtyard, followed by Madeline’s shrill voice.

  ‘Dino!’ she screeched.

  He winced involuntarily.

  ‘Open this door immediately, or so help me god—’

  ‘Madeline, please,’ Dino called through the heavy wood partition. ‘I can’t understand a word you’re saying. Only dogs and fellow banshees can hear that pitch.’

  ‘Argh!’ Madeline screamed, rapping on the oak. ‘Open this door at once!’

  ‘Are you crazy?’

  ‘Crazy? Crazy?’ Madeline ranted. ‘I’ll show you crazy! What were you thinking? Running away in the middle of the night, stealing the car—’

  ‘Borrowing,’ Dino called back.

  ‘I had to get the bus here! The bus!’

  Dino rolled his eyes.

  There was another long series of bangs against the door, then silence.

  Dino breathed softly in the quiet castle vestibule.

  ‘Maddie?’ He waited for a response. ‘I know you’re still out there.’

  When she didn’t respond, Dino peered through a gap in the wood and saw Madeline stalking away from the castle. Blue was still loitering at the station wagon, wringing out his hands.

  Gingerly, Dino opened the door a crack and peered out. ‘Where’s she going?’ he mouthed to Blue.

  Blue pointed towards the gardens. ‘Mia,’ he mouthed back.

  With that, Mia came into view, emerging from the hedge archway and heading towards the castle.

  ‘Aunt Maddie!’ Mia exclaimed a few seconds later when she caught sight of their aunt. She picked up her pace and ran to greet Madeline, not in the least bit fearful of the older woman’s thunderous expression.

  Dino looked on cautiously as Mia flung her arms around Madeline, who reluctantly reciprocated the embrace. He hovered in the doorway, edging into the courtyard whilst keeping one foot firmly cemented in the castle.

  ‘What were you thinking?’ he heard Madeline snap at Mia.

  Dino raised his voice to come to his sister’s aid. ‘You didn’t leave us with any other option!’

  Madeline glared at him. He glared back.

  ‘The bus,’ she repeated, breaking away from Mia and stalking back to Dino. ‘Do you realise this coat cost me one thousand plus? And now look at it!’ She dusted her fingers over the material of her now-creased purple winter coat.

  Dino frowned at her. ‘You dropped a grand on a coat? On my last birthday all you got me was a coupon for socks!’

  Madeline’s cheeks flushed pink. She placed her hands on her hips. ‘And this is the thanks I get? Car thieves and runaways! We’ve been out of our minds with worry!’

  Dino stepped out into the open and made his way to his sister’s side. ‘We left you a note.’

  ‘And that’s supposed to make everything better?’ Madeline scoffed.

  He was about to answer when he caught sight of Cassandra. She was off in the distance, making her way across the meadow with a large tote bag slung over her shoulder. Her pace was calmer and more graceful than her sister’s had been. When she saw her children, however, her stride quickened.

  ‘Mum!’ Mia cheered. ‘We’re all here!’ Then, catching sight of Madeline’s glower, she repeated the sentiment in a tone more in keeping with the reproving mood. ‘We’re all here.’

  ‘Thank god you’re safe!’ Cassandra cried. She raced the last few steps to the courtyard and engulfed her two children into a hug that Dino tried unsuccessfully to duck.

  ‘Don’t hug them!’ Madeline spluttered. ‘You’re enabling their behaviour, Cassandra. You’re an enabler.’

  ‘You hugged Mia, like, two seconds ago,’ Dino shot back over his mother’s shoulder. ‘And nobody enabled us to do anything. If anything, you dis-enabled us.’ He stepped back from his mother and met his aunt’s steely glare. ‘We did what we had to do.’

  ‘Oh, well then!’ Madeline flung her arms skyward and tottered backward on her stiletto heels. ‘He did what he had to do,’ she mimicked him. ‘No! You are not the adult here, Dino.’ She pointed to herself and Cassandra. ‘We make the decisions on what’s best for you two.’

  ‘I’m nearly eighteen,’ Dino reminded her. ‘Maybe I—’

  ‘Maybe you what?’ Madeline challenged.

  He looked down to the ground for a moment, then back up again. He tried to show more confidence than he felt. ‘Maybe I should make the decisions for Mia,’ he said at last. ‘Maybe I know what’s best for her. For both of us.’

  Cassandra untangled herself from Mia and looked at Dino with a tender expression. ‘You may think you know best,’ she said gently, ‘but your judgment is clouded.’

  ‘You wanted to send her away!’ Dino accused.

  ‘Of course Aunt Maddie and I didn’t want to send Mia away!’ Cassandra replied. ‘We didn’t want it to come to that, but it did.’ She gazed up at the looming castle walls. ‘I understand that you think you did the right thing by coming here, Dino, but you didn’t.’

  ‘But I don’t want to be sent away,’ Mia appealed breathlessly.

  Cassandra and Madeline swapped a private glance. Two sets of piercing blue eyes were sympathetic, but their resolve was unwavering.

  ‘Mia . . .’ Cassandra began.

  ‘Please,’ Mia whispered.

  The two women exchanged another look.

  For a long while, no one spoke. The only sound was the groan of a growing gale, rocking through the trees as Mia inadvertently brought her pain life to with each gust of air.

  Thus, the little family was left standing at loggerheads with Blue milling on the fringe, nervously awaiting the outcome.

  At long last, Madeline exhaled deeply. ‘This is getting us nowhere,’ she said, massaging her temples. As she did so, her chunky silver rings caught the glint of the low December sun.

  ‘Agreed,’ Cassandra seconded. ‘Let’s go find Wendolyn. We need to speak to someone who isn’t us.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Mia and Dino concurred in unison.

  Chapter Seven

  Pain Killers

  As dusk fell, Cassandra and Madeline joined Wendolyn and the rest of the Arcana in the castle’s old stone dining room. A long oak table ran through the centre and candelabras were suspended from the towering ceiling. Carved into the stone walls was a huge fireplace crackling with flames and radiating a cosy heat. Only the Hunters and Amos were absent.<
br />
  Cassandra reached for Wendolyn’s hand as they sat side by side at the head of the table. ‘You should have told us you were unwell,’ Cassandra fussed. ‘We would have come sooner. We could have helped you.’

  ‘Oh, my dears,’ Wendolyn chortled. ‘I have a chill, that’s all. Nothing to fret over. And Amos has been here helping where he can.’

  Madeline gave a low wolf whistle and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  Cassandra shot her sister a quick glare. ‘Maddie,’ she hissed. ‘That is totally inappropriate. Amos is Wendolyn’s brother-in-law.’

  Madeline rolled her heavily made-up eyes. ‘Oh, don’t be such a prude, Cass. Wennie knows I’m kidding. Don’t you, Wennie?’ Wendolyn smiled serenely as Madeline selected a soft bread roll from a basket on the table. ‘Hey, you!’ Madeline snapped her fingers at Isaac, who was seated further along the table. ‘Pass the butter.’

  ‘You know,’ Isaac said huffily, glaring at Madeline, ‘here at the Glass Castle, manners are important. Wendolyn always taught us to say please, and I’m assuming she taught you the same thing.’

  Jonathan interrupted Isaac’s rant by ferrying the butter dish to Madeline. ‘It smells as though a hint of goldenseal has been added,’ he noted, nodding down at the butter dish. ‘If there was a dash of yarrow and a speck of wormwood, we’d all be eating a prosperity ointment!’ Jonathan chuckled at his own apparent joke.

  Madeline turned back to Wendolyn. ‘Who’s this kid?’ she asked, thumbing towards Jonathan.

  Jonathan jumped at the chance to make the introduction. He extended his hand to Madeline and bowed slightly. ‘Jonathan Woodworth,’ he answered. ‘Arcana at the Lighthouse. And friend of Mia.’

  At this last part, Mia felt herself blush. She was glad that Colt wasn’t at the table.

  Madeline wiped her buttery fingers on her skinny jeans before extending her hand to Jonathan. ‘Well, pleased to meet you, John,’ she said, glaring at Isaac as she said the word pleased.