by Sandra Kaye
“Sure thing, ma’am. I’ll be ready.”
Seven minutes later, Reya and I were getting into Reno’s SUV. He said a couple of the graves were off the beaten path, so his SUV would get us there easier. In the end, Reno took us to seven gravesites, none of which was the one Gabe showed us. By that point, even he was starting to look worried. Throughout the trip, we took turns calling their phones. Reya was right; they all went to voicemail. I left frantic messages for each of them, praying the whole time that everything was fine, not that I could think of any logical reason for them all to be missing and not returning calls.
After the graves were a bust, Reno took me to my car but insisted on following Reya and me to my place. The three of us spent all night calling everyone we knew, looking for anyone who might know something. It was a bust. No one had heard from them or knew which grave they went to. Reno was positive that he had taken us to every site where the deaths had taken place. He must have repeated that ten times before it hit me.
“Reno, are you sure you didn’t miss any of the sites?”
“Of course, I’m sure, mama. I was at each personally with Teddy. Why do you ask?”
That didn’t make sense. “Because Gabe took us to a mausoleum, but it wasn’t at any of the cemeteries you showed us.”
“Maybe he was just confused. Does it matter?”
“Probably not. It just worries me that if we weren’t at an appropriate place that when Seslie did the spell at the right place, our bad guy tracked it back and got to them before she could stop him. If that’s what happened, we may not find them safe and it would be my fault. I let her do it without me, so I could go on a stupid date. “
“You know Seslie is more than capable of doing that spell, and you made her take Gabe and Teddy. What more could you have done?”
“I should have been there. That’s what I could have done.”
“Ana, if you were there and whoever this is got you, too, none of us would have any hope of stopping whoever is responsible,” Reya said.
As much as I knew they were right, I couldn’t help but feel responsible. After all, she was my sister. “Maybe, and I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t think about anyone until I know what happened to my sister. I need to know she’s alright.”
“Wait! Can’t you do that thing you do that pisses Seslie off so much?” Reya questioned.
Any other time, that would have made me laugh. “You need to be a little more specific, Reya. I’ve done many things over the years that piss off my sister.”
“That pop-in thing you do. Like you did in basic training that got us all smoked.”
I truly was out of it because until she mentioned it I hadn’t thought about it. Of course, I should have done that as soon as I realized she was gone. “You’re brilliant.”
“Well, okay. I’ll remind you of that next time you say I’m a moron,” Reya teased.
Just that small amount of hope had lightened the mood in the room. If it didn’t work, I’d have to call Gran. I’d need her power to figure out if they were alive or dead. I didn’t want to make that call. I didn’t want to put her through what I’d been feeling since I found out Ses was gone.
Seated in the center of the floor, I took a few cleansing breaths and sent a prayer to the Goddess for wisdom and guidance, as well as a little luck. It couldn’t hurt at this point. Dropping into a trance, I allowed my astral self to seek Seslie. At first, I felt a tug, but that was it. Nothing more happened, no matter how hard I tried. Just as I was going to back out of the grey fields, I decided to seek Teddy. Again, I felt the tug, then nothing. Lastly, I attempted to find Gabe. He wasn’t as easy since I didn’t know him as well, but in the end, it was of no use. I didn’t even get the small tug I felt with Seslie and Teddy, which left me wondering if that meant he was gone or if I just couldn’t find him because we weren’t as close. Even though I couldn’t get more than that small pull with Seslie and Teddy, it gave me hope. With Gran's help and the coven if needed, we should have the strength to bust through whatever was blocking me. I believed that was the problem. I prayed that was it. I couldn’t lose my little sister. Not when I should have been there.
I came back to myself with both Reno and Reya looking at me expectantly. I couldn’t bring myself to say it, so I just shook my head and went to seek my needed caffeine and sugar. After I regained a bit of my energy, I called Gran. I didn’t see a need to repeat myself by telling them and then Gran, so I just put her on speaker and explained everything from the takeover through my attempt to astral-project. When I finished, the room was silent, all of us waiting for Gran's response.
“Am I on speaker?”
“Yes, Gran.”
“And who’s with you?”
“Reya, who you know, and Reno Allen. He’s a friend of ours and Teddy’s.”
“Reno, is Debra Allen your mother?”
“She is, ma’am.”
“Alright, then. Little one, you need to come here. First though, I will need something from each of them.”
“I can get something of Seslie’s and likely of Gabe’s. Surely, he has something at Ses’s, but I have no way to get something of Teddy’s. Reno, can you?”
Gran broke in before Reno could answer. “Whoever touches each belonging must be part of the circle. So, unless Reno is coming here, you need to be the one to collect it.”
“I would gladly do that if you want, but I was thinking I’d stay in town and round us up some help. That way, once you ladies locate our friends, we have plenty of muscle to take out whoever is holding them.”
“That sounds like a wise idea, young man, and we thank you in advance.”
“No need, ma’am. They’re my friends, too.”
With that settled, I jumped in to let her know what I would need to do before I could be on the road to her. “Okay, Gran, but it will take me a while to go drop Reya off and grab the things we need from there, then follow Reno to get something from Teddy’s.”
“I’ll get the stuff from our place. I want to help. Seslie would be there for me. I need to do the same,” Reya stated.
“That’s fine with me. Is that okay with you, Gran?”
“Sure is. The more people with connections to them, the stronger we are and the better our odds are of breaking through the spell that’s blocking them.”
“You really think that’s what’s going on, Gran?”
“From what you told me, yes.”
Just hearing Gran say that was such a relief, because she wasn’t someone who was into giving false hope. She was a straight-shooter, even when the truth hurt.
Chapter Sixteen
When we made it to Gran’s, the drive was full of cars and several of the women from the coven were already gathered in the front yard. It was six in the morning and it looked like half the town was there. I hated to think about what Seslie and the guys had been going through while I’d been running around chasing my tail.
Reya and I grabbed the personal belongings we had collected and headed to the house. Henry stopped me before I made it to the front of my car. He wrapped me in a warm, reassuring embrace. No words were exchanged. He just wanted to offer comfort and receive some in return. When he released me, he left his arm draped across my shoulder and enveloped Reya with his other, then led us inside. Gran and Alice Mae were inside, assigning tasks to each coven member. Reya and I were given plain white robes and ushered into a cleansing bath. Several of the women were already dressed in the same attire. Gran and her coven were old school. The circle would be all women, and everyone would be wearing the same plain white robes after having a bath with sage, lavender, and rosemary to cleanse the body and spirit. I let Reya go first while Alice explained what they had planned. We would go to the old quarry where the town ley lines were strongest. Several of the coven males had already set things up for the circle. Instead of a single power circle, Alice and Gran had designed a double circle with thirteen of the strongest witches in the coven as the outer power structure. Then A
lice, Gran, Reya, and I would collect and direct all that collective power through the personal effects we’d brought, then channel it into Alice’s secret guest. She assured me that would allow us to demolish any cloaking spell that could be concealing Seslie. I had no clue who Alice had invited that was capable of harnessing and directing that kind of magic, but if they were on our side, I didn’t care. All that mattered was finding my sister and friends and bringing them home.We piled into the fewest cars possible to get to the quarry. Once there, it was apparent that a great deal of thought and work had gone into setting up the spell. Even the men who had cleared the space in front of the quarry entrance wore white robes, and the entire area smelled of the herbs from the cleansing bath. The strongest convergence of ley line power was in the center of the clearing between the rock opening and the man-made lake from when the rock quarry was once in use. It served as a reminder of when the town was rich with resources and families.
A stone slab had been placed at the convergence point. The first circle was only a few feet larger than the slab. The second was about twenty feet around. Both were marked with a ring of salt. The inner
was pink salt and the outer was traditional white salt. There were five fire pits with large flames leaping towards the sky, outside the larger circle at the places where a five-pointed star would normally be. Midway between each burning pit were slabs like the one in the center but much smaller. The tops held some sort of paraphernalia I couldn’t see while standing near the cars.
Alice and Gran were placing the thirteen women where they wanted them in the outer ring. As they did that, I noticed a male at the edge of the lake. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, so I moved closer for a better view.
This spell was more complex than any I’d ever been part of and the slabs, flames, and pink salt weren’t things I’d seen used before. While I was eager to get started so we could get Ses back, I was aware that a spell this complex shouldn’t be rushed. We’d be dealing with a great deal of power, and if we weren’t careful, people could get hurt.
The man finished filling five copper bowls and began to stand. I stepped forward to offer my help when he turned around, giving me my first real look at him. To say I was surprised would have been the understatement of the century. I had no idea how he was there or why, but something in me lightened when seeing him.
“Analese! I didn’t know this was your coven.”
“That’s because it isn’t. Not really. Seslie and I have been our own coven since we moved away. But they let us join them on special occasions, because we were members growing up and Gran still is.”
“I see. That’s very nice of them.”
“Yeah, it is. So that explains why I’m here. What brings you here, Xavier? I thought you just moved to our area? Pearl is quite a distance away from town, don’t you think? And to be at a witch spell circle? Did I miss something on our date? I thought you were a Druid. Not a witch.”
He gave me that knowing smirk I’d already become addicted to. I could feel my insides turning to goo just looking at him. Life was too cruel. I shook my head and tried to focus on what he was saying. My hormones were going to have to wait. Those were what led me to let my sister go out on her own to do a spell we were unclear on the outcome of, which was bad enough. Now she was gone, and I needed to find her.
Alice and Gran had joined us while I was giving myself an internal pep talk.
“Ana, I see you’ve met Xavier Lynch. He’s a Druid here to help us with this spell. His uncle Zakaria and he are new to Illinois, but Xavier is one of the strongest with his elemental magic. Since cloaking spells are generally just shields that form a clear dome over what they want to hide, adding a strong elemental magic user to our spell will allow us to lend him power while he uses air, water, earth, and fire to bust through their spell’s cracks. Letting us track them.”
With it stated like that, it made perfect sense, but if adding a Druid made such a difference, couldn’t the person or persons who did the cloaking spell just get one, too, so there wouldn’t be any holes for our Druid to bust through? Not that he was my Druid. He was just the Druid who was helping the coven, of which I wasn’t a member. I had to know why they were so sure the cloaking spell we were trying to crack wasn’t done with another Druid's help.
“If having a Druid join their power to a spell makes it that much stronger, why doesn’t every witch work with a Druid? Including the ones who are blocking us from Seslie, Teddy, and Gabe.”
Xavier was the first to speak up. “I can answer that if it’s okay?”
“By all means, go ahead.”
“For one thing, every witch can’t work with a Druid, because Druids are rare. Currently, in the United States, there are only seven that we’re aware of.”
“What do you mean by, aware of?”
“There could always be a Druid out there that hasn’t manifested their power yet or who’s unaware of what they are.”
“How could that happen? I mean, the not knowing part?”
Gran spoke up at that point, reminding us why we were here. I felt terrible. It wasn’t that I forgot. I just loved to learn new things.
“Sorry, Gran, you’re right.”
I started to walk away so Xavier could finish prep work, but he grabbed my arm gently before I got very far.
“Wait. The second reason why the people behind this don’t likely have a Druid on their side is that we are a religious-based species. Very superstitious, believing in karma and the thrice rule. No true Druid would agree to help hold someone against their will.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘true Druid’?”
“Druid history teaches us that the first Druids were elementals. Once they adopted polytheistic beliefs and regimented training, they became what is now known as a Druid.”
“So, there are elementals out there that can do what a Druid can do?” I was confused. I knew we didn’t have a great deal of time, and seeing him had been a huge surprise.
“No, not even close. An elemental has control of one or two elements. A Druid has mastered all four before the age of twelve. They’re weak, untrained, and on their own. Druids work in pairs most of the time, so we have more power to use.”
“Oh, I see.” I wasn’t sure I did, but we needed to get this done, so we could go get our people.
“I promise, the next time we go out, I will answer all your questions about how we’re different.” Once I was no longer talking Xavier’s leg off, he had things ready quickly. The outer circle was formed, and Gran gave them the words they would need to chant. Our smaller inner circle was ready for Gran and Xavier to join. Instead of joining hands and standing with us, he stood on the stone slab in the center. Gran finally joined us, but she took my place and motioned that I should join him in the center. The personal effects we brought were on the slab as well. Xavier grasped my hands and told me to breathe, stay calm, and follow his lead. He raised our hands above his head and yelled, “Begin!”
The larger ring of witches was chanting, “Earth, air, fire, water, guide us to what we seek.” The closer small ring was chanting, “Swift, strong, straight, true, protect the ones we seek to find.”
“Okay, Ana, it’s up to me and you now. As the power builds, we will funnel it through us and into the gray between to find your sister and your friends. I just need you to keep them in your mind and let me guide the spell to do what we want.”
The power was already hammering at me, so all I could do was nod my understanding and picture Seslie, Teddy, and Gabe. As soon as Xavier took my hands, the power was manageable. I could see how he was using air to push the power out and earth to weave it through the ground. The elements were each a color woven within the power, forming a beautiful golden rope. I’d never thought about where the gray between was, but it looked like he knew what was what, so I just tried to add my power and stay focused.
After only a few moments, I could feel Ses. She was calling to me. She must not have realized there was a shielding spell b
locking her, or she didn’t care. Yeah, that sounded more like it. Before I knew it, I was steering us right to her. I still couldn’t tell where she was, but I knew I soon would. Except then, I hit a magical wall. Xavier took over again, weaving the magic around what could only be the shielding spell. The gray dome dissolved with the sound of breaking glass. He and I were in the gray between, right where Teddy and Seslie were being held. I knew the place. It was a warehouse at the edge of town. I think it used to be an old sewing factory. Just as I was about to leave the between and tell them help was coming, Xavier started pulling away. I tried to fight, but he was stronger, so it was no use.
When I came back to myself, I was so angry he hadn’t let me talk to her that I yanked my hands from his and stormed away. How dare he take me to her and not let me reassure her. I had to get back there and help her now. She was dirty and bloody and tied up. Why couldn’t we have told them we were coming with help? Maybe he wasn’t the man I thought he was.
I was already behind the wheel of the van we arrived in when he caught me. Gran, Reya, and Alice were hot on his heels.
“Hey, wait! Where are you going?” he demanded.
“I’m going to get my sister. Where else?”
“Well, that’s a fine thank you. You could at least wait ‘til I can come along. Or was the spell all you think I can do?”
“I don’t care what else you can do. I have friends that will help me. Ones that would understand my sister was afraid and I could have told her help was on the way. But no, you yanked me back before I could talk to her.”
“Is that what you think? That I left without letting them know they were found, and help was coming?”
“I was there. You didn’t step through. You said nothing. We just left them there without hope. Did you see the condition they were in?”
“I did, yes. I’m sorry, but they were managing, and I left your sister a message on the air that guided us to them so no one else will know but her.”
