by KT Webb
The world around her became distorted until the only thing she could see were her peculiar eyes. Lucy had to get more information from her. She had to know what they would face when she awoke.
Things were starting to change. Lucy could see her friends and the Druids but they were blurry. They had to know what she knew. The harder she tried to focus, the harder it got. She watched as her body sat up and glossy white eyes opened. Her friends jumped back and Lucy’s mouth began to move.
“Carman has been freed. Odessa said the transfer is complete. I can’t wake up. I’m trapped in the Shade.”
She fought to maintain focus, but shimmering symbols began to appear in the air around her as the Druids moved their hands in intricate patterns over her body. She fell back to the bed as everything faded to black.
Grace
Chapter Thirty-One
Battle Lines
“What did you do to her?” Grace asked Caderyn and Blodwen.
“We cast a protection spell around her mind. Odessa must have found a way to invade her subconscious and access her dreams. The wards will protect her until we can wake her,” Caderyn explained.
Harper took Grace’s hand as Sutton linked arms with her on the other side. They’d grown so much closer since the last time they stood in the halls of Idir, and seeing Lucy unconscious and unresponsive was breaking their hearts.
Grace knew she should have insisted they do something for Lucy. She should have listened to her gut. The ritual had required a lot of magic and they were all depleted afterward. They knew it was much worse than they’d imagined when Lughnasadh appeared in the mirror. They were out of their depth, and they had to turn to the people they thought could help. It had been nearly a week since they’d returned to Idir and nothing had worked to coax Lucy from her slumber. They’d performed rituals, force-fed her potions and used the spirit board to reach her.
When they finally decided to return to the Druids, Sutton had created a portal while Grace levitated Lucy. Harper managed to use her magic to gently move Lucy through the portal. They arrived at the fairy clearing near the sidhe that led to Idir. It was the last place they wanted to be, but the only place they could think of that had strong enough magic to wake Lucy.
Harper and Ooghna had taken off to find the Druids and enlist their help. Within moments, Blodwen and Caderyn had come to their aid. They helped get Lucy into Idir and laid her to rest on the bed she’d claimed during their short time in the Druid’s home.
When they’d finally exhausted all possibilities, the Druids suggested warding her mind and body to keep it from further damage.
“What’s wrong with her? Did we do this to her with the Awakening?” Sutton demanded
“We don’t know. Her mind seems to be completely empty. We don’t even know if that message was from her or Odessa.” Blodwen broke the news gently.
“What do you mean?” Grace whispered.
The Druids shared a look that made the hairs on Grace’s arms stand on end. There were simply no answers to be had. She looked at the other two witches, completely at a loss. They were supposed to work together to stop Dub, Dian, and Duther. How could they do that if they were missing one of their coven?
“What can we do for her?” Grace begged.
“Right now, there is nothing that can be done. Our wards will protect her from anyone who wishes her harm. Lughnasadh is tomorrow. You will have to leave Lucy here and face the sons of Carman and Odessa as a coven of three,” Caderyn explained.
That didn’t sound good at all. The whole reason they’d gone on a mission to collect ingredients for the Awakening was to complete their coven. Without Lucy, they would be in the same position they’d been in before. Grace exchanged a look of sheer panic with her coven. If they weren’t powerful enough without Harper, they weren’t going to be powerful enough without Lucy.
“What can we do?” Harper demanded from the Druids as she gestured to the girls around her.
Her question was met with blank stares. Grace had had enough. If the Druids were going to send them into battle unprepared and short-handed, they were going to go with them.
“Will you stand with us, or are you afraid of your enemies?” Grace baited them.
Brennus recoiled as though he’d been slapped. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before letting out a huff of air and crossing his arms like a petulant child. Caderyn showed no reaction and Cerys’ eyes grew wide with shock. The only Druid bold enough to respond was the only Druid Grace felt she could trust.
Blodwen took a step forward, separating herself from her siblings. “I do not know what my brothers and sister will choose to do, but I will stand with you. I am not afraid. I have lived long enough to know that facing that which threatens me is the surest way to overcome it.”
As a show of support, she crossed the room to stand beside the last coven. To her surprise, Caderyn soon joined them. Blodwen took her brother’s hand and squeezed. Brennus and Cerys remained rooted to the spots they occupied. The line had been drawn, the Druids had been divided and the coven now stood a chance against their foes. The two Druids turned and left the room without a word.
Grace nodded to the two who remained. “What now?”
“We will follow your lead. You are the last coven.” Caderyn bowed low.
Sutton sighed. “If that message was from Lucy, and Carman has been freed, do we know what we’ll be facing?”
It wasn’t something Grace had even considered. What had she meant by “the transfer was complete?” Had they managed to get Carman out of the Shade without anyone knowing? If Lucy was trapped in the Shade, was she a prisoner? If Odessa was hi-jacking Lucy’s subconscious, was she in the Shade too?
So many questions were swirling around in her mind, she couldn’t pinpoint which was most important to answer. She was marginally relieved to know they had two of the Druids on their side, but how could they be sure it would be enough magic? Would there even be a fight if Carman was free?
“We’re as ready as we’re going to be from the way things look. What else can we do?”
Grace glanced at Lucy as she slept. Her brow was furrowed as though something troubled her. It made her heart hurt to watch helplessly as her friend was stuck in her own mind. “The longer we sit here talking about it, the longer Lucy is stuck in the Shade with Odessa. We need to do this, now,” she said firmly.
“May we have a moment to consult Genovefa?”
Grace looked to her coven for their thoughts. The other girls seemed to accept the request. The Druids took their lack of objection to mean they had permission to leave. They bowed graciously and left.
“We need to summon Dee. We know that no matter what, she will stand by us,” Harper insisted.
“What’s wrong?” Grace sensed the desperation in Harper’s tone.
She shook her head as though trying to clear her thoughts. “I don’t really know, it’s something that Imbolc said. One of the things I had to do in my trials was choose between the power offered by the Druids, and . . .”
“And what?” Sutton pressed.
Harper hesitated. “I had to make a choice between you guys and immeasurable power.”
Grace inhaled sharply. “You didn’t choose the power. Did you?”
“No. It was tempting, of course, but I knew that they couldn’t offer me any power that would be greater than the connection we share.”
“So, you chose us. Why is that so bad?” Sutton shrugged.
“That’s not it. After I chose, Imbolc told me something that made me feel like she thought I’d made the right decision. She said the Druids were kind of like a gray area; they lean towards the power, they’re neither good nor bad.”
Grace didn’t know what to say. Based on what they’d seen so far, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to assume that the Druids were interested in the girls’ power and little else. When they created the first coven, they thought they were showing off their own magic, creating the force that would destroy their grea
test enemy. When the first coven turned out to be more powerful than they were, it must have been difficult for them to realize they were usurped by their own creation.
Ooghna dislodged herself from Harper’s hair, she flew to Grace and spoke in her discordant fairy voice. Listening to her was like trying to pick out the lyrics to a distant melody, but somehow Grace understood her.
“Druids are guardians, they are incapable of choosing sides. Be wary of their offer to stand with you.”
Grace nodded and turned to the other girls. “She said they can’t pick a side. They’re guardians?”
“Oh, yeah! Imbolc said Idir is the boundary between the Otherworld and our world. The Druids are just supposed to keep things in balance.”
“So, if they take a side is it going to throw off the cosmic balance or something?” Sutton asked.
Grace looked to Ooghna and couldn’t help but giggle when the tiny creature shrugged her shoulders. Not only was it adorable, it also reminded Grace that they were not that different after all.
Before the Druids returned, the girls summoned Dee. She wasn’t pleased about it, but she calmed down when she heard what happened. Deirdre may be queen of the water sprites, but Dee was their friend. Nothing would change that. They filled her in on the sticky situation with the Druids and she agreed to have their backs, even if the Druids didn’t.
When Blodwen and Caderyn returned, they brought Brennus and Cerys trailing behind them. Genovefa was nowhere to be found, but the Druids presented a united front. A potentially disastrous united front.
“After consulting with the Vate we have decided it could be in our best interest to join you in this fight,” Brennus said with his head bowed slightly.
Grace knew he’d chosen his words carefully. Genovefa had no doubt shown them a multitude of outcomes that ranged from total annihilation to victory; they couldn’t be on either side if they weren’t in the thick of it. Dee and Ooghna stood with the coven as they watched the Druids. Sutton was the only one to speak.
“We appreciate your help, especially knowing that, historically, you’ve avoided direct involvement in conflicts like this.” She stepped forward, squaring her shoulders and narrowing her eyes. “I want to make one thing abundantly clear. The battle lines have been drawn and one way or another, we’re going to make it out of this alive.”
Harper
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Face of Evil
It didn’t surprise Harper that the Druids had declined to comment on Sutton’s passive-aggressive statement. They needed to know the girls would do whatever was necessary, and what they believed was right. No amount of pressure from anyone would change that. They left the sidhe and quickly hopped in a portal to the tree that had once been Carman.
Across the field, near the long-dead tree stood three looming figures. Dub, Dian, and Dother stood elbow to elbow, as though waiting for the coven. When their much larger group arrived, the brothers seemed completely nonplussed. Harper scanned the horizon for signs of life, knowing that Odessa must be there. Or, if they could believe the message delivered to them by their sleeping friend, Carman was nearby.
The dark smoke seemed to ooze from Dub like fog clinging to the ground. It was distracting and creepy. Harper didn’t need to look at the others to know they were feeling on edge. Other than the opposition, the only people who seemed anxious to get the fight started were the Druids. It was obvious now that they had only tagged along to see the outcome firsthand. They’d spent centuries locked away in Idir; now they wanted to see the action and possibly influence the outcome. The tables had turned, and they were no longer the puppet masters pulling the strings of their witch-marionettes. They were powerless, neutral; the way they should have been all along.
As one, Harper, Sutton, Grace and Dee began to walk towards the men they faced. The Druids fell into step behind them, feigning subservience. Part of her wanted to turn around and tell them the jig was up. They weren’t fooling anyone. The only thing stopping her from doing that was the idea that they may gain an advantage if their enemies thought they truly stood together.
“That’s close enough.”
The voice was commanding, and it had a strange accent she hadn’t heard before. It was a woman’s voice, but deep and gruff. Unless one of Carman’s sons was actually a daughter, they had company.
“Show yourself. Or are you too afraid to face us?” Sutton called.
A bark of laughter seemed to come from all around them. The location of the voice was impossible to pinpoint. “I am not the one who is afraid. Do you not stand before us with double our number?”
“We would be here with only four, but you saw to it that we would be without one of our coven.” Grace took her turn to call out the woman they had yet to see.
“Ah, yes. Lucy is it? I’m sure she’s comfortable enough with her cellmate in the Shade.”
Harper didn’t like the way that sounded. She knew the Shade was a prison, but she hadn’t thought about Lucy being a prisoner. And who would her cellmate be? Was she being forced to spend more time with Odessa? Before she could form another question in her mind, movement caught her eye. It was Odessa.
Her long dark hair hung loosely as she wove herself around the three mindless goons they faced. She stared lovingly at each of them, never looking at the coven and their group. It made Harper’s skin crawl when she caressed their muscles as though admiring their bulk. If Odessa was here, was it Carman that shared a cell with Lucy?
Odessa stopped at one end of the men and turned to face the twisted tree. It was as though her focus had completely shifted and she’d forgotten all about the evil men she’d been ogling. She walked straight up to the tree and put her hands on her hips.
“You would think it would be more attractive.”
“Pretty sure it’s a reflection of the person it once was,” Harper said.
“What would you know, little witch?”
Odessa circled the tree, never taking her eyes off it. She seemed to be studying every inch as though looking for the tiniest spark of beauty. It was unlikely she would find it. The first coven had cursed Carman’s body until it formed that tree. Carman was an evil sorceress with an ugly heart. A tree made out of her worthless carcass would be anything but beautiful.
“Look, let’s just do this already. What are we doing here?” Sutton was growing impatient.
“We’re here for my revenge. You separated a mother from her children. You destroyed everything I had worked so hard for. You kept me from punishing Cichol. Now, you’re going to be too busy trying to reunite your precious coven to interfere with my plans.”
Harper felt a chill wash over her. The voice wasn’t the only thing that was different about Odessa. In fact, this wasn’t Odessa at all. Before Harper could call out a warning, the sorceress turned to face them. For the first time since she emerged from behind her sons, Carman revealed her face. She may be in Odessa’s body, but the eyes are the windows to the soul. The cold, black eyes that stared back at them were unnerving. Odessa had switched places with Carman. Now, Carman was free and Odessa was serving her sentence in the Shade.
“Carman. How did you accomplish this?” Brennus demanded.
Harper’s shoulders tensed at his words. While she too was wondering how the sorceress had managed to switch spots with the wannabe witch, she knew the motivation behind the question wasn’t the same.
Carman glanced at Harper before answering the Druid. “Magic.”
She wriggled her fingers in the same way Grams had when she’d spoken to them through the spirit board. The teen witch pulled back her upper lip in disgust. She didn’t appreciate being toyed with.
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen; Ireland is mine. I am going to complete the curse I started to put on this wretched country until Cichol is ready to face me.”
“Good luck with that,” Dee growled.
“Awww, you have a water sprite? That’s cute. What do you think it’s going to do to me?”
/> Dee curled her hands into fists and began to glow pink. Sutton followed her lead, blue light wrapping around her hands and moving up her arms. For the first time since the Awakening, Harper noticed the Stone of Destiny was back on the blonde girls hand. It crackled in reaction to the powerful gem. A split second later, Carman noticed the ring too.
“The Stone!” she cried, lunging for Sutton.
Harper’s hands moved before she made the decision to cast. She held them thumb to thumb, palms facing out. Both hands twisted until the fingers pointed opposite directions and only the right hand, which maintained contact with the left through her thumbs, was palm facing out. Abruptly, all her fingers snapped closed. Carman froze mid-step; her eyes darted toward Harper.
“Whoa,” Grace breathed.
She had no idea how she’d done it or how long it would last, but she had to admit it was pretty cool. Dub, Dother, and Dian moved as one to help their mother. This time, it was Grace who moved to stop them. She mimicked what she’d seen Harper do and they too froze in place. Once they were stationary, she pulled the grimoire out of her backpack. Harper instinctively knew she would be looking for the spell the first coven had used to banish the brothers.
