by Terri Reid
We ask you now, our dear family, to find those partners and then return to this grimoire within the safety of a circle to read more of your task.
Blessed be our sisters and our daughters.”
Henry carefully closed the book, and the latch sprang back into place. He sat back and took a deep breath. “I could feel their fear for you,” he said. “As I read their words, it was like they were reaching out from the grave with their warnings.”
“What did she mean, four of them?” Hazel asked, turning to her mother for an answer.
Agnes shook her head. “I have no idea,” she said. “All of the stories I have heard were only about the three. There was no mention of a fourth.”
“It couldn’t have been Patience Goodfellow,” Rowan said, referring to Henry’s ancestor who hid the grimoire away safely after the spell was cast. “It was someone who died with the sisters.”
“The sisters didn’t seem to place as much emphasis on the fourth soul as they did the fact that each of you need to find partners in this quest,” Henry said. “Partners you can trust, who would be willing to sacrifice themselves for you.”
He leaned over, took Rowan’s hand in his and met her eyes. “I am your partner in this quest,” he said solemnly. “I vow to do everything in my power to destroy the beast, even to the sacrifice of my own life.”
Rowan leaned forward and kissed Henry gently on the lips. “I accept your vow with gratitude,” she replied.
Joseph turned to Hazel, his face filled with dismay. “I would vow,” he said to her, shaking his head. “But the fulfillment of the quest is not for several months, and I don’t know…”
Hazel placed her hand over his mouth to stop him from finishing his sentence. “We will have to figure out how to stop your curse,” she said. “Because I know in my heart that you are my partner, and no one else will do.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “You’re right,” he said softly, his eyes filled with love for her. “No one else will do.”
Agnes watched a shadow of grief pass over Cat’s features until she schooled them and took a deep breath. “Well, I would say that the first order of business is to cure Joseph,” she said. “And we need to do it quickly.”
Hazel sighed and shook her head. “Cat, it’s not like he has a flu or something,” she began.
Rowan’s eyes widened, and then she reached over and hugged her sister. “Cat, you are brilliant,” she said. “Quick, let’s close this circle because I have an idea.”
Henry grinned and turned to Joseph. “I have a feeling you’re in for a wild ride.”
“Those are the best kind,” Joseph replied.
Chapter Fifty-two
Hazel entered Rowan’s laboratory, put on a lab coat, slipped paper booties over her shoes, and walked toward the office.
“I still don’t have a solution,” Rowan called out to her sister from the confines of her office.
“It’s been days,” Hazel complained as she entered the office.
Rowan looked up from the computer screen she was studying and nodded sympathetically. “I know,” she said. “But it takes a while for all of the genetic tests to process.”
Hazel pulled a chair away from the counter and sat down next to Rowan, looking over her shoulder. “So, what do you have so far?” she asked.
“I think I’ve been able to isolate the mutation in his DNA when I compared it to his grandfather’s DNA and to Gabriella’s,” Rowan said. “So, now the challenge is how to get the corrected DNA to interact with his mutated DNA and correct the problem.”
“Can you do that?” Hazel asked.
Rowan nodded. “When you mentioned that Joseph didn’t have the flu the other day, it reminded me that viruses have the ability to affect DNA,” she explained. “Not flu viruses, but viruses like HIV actually change someone’s DNA. So, why not use that same idea to get rid of the mutated DNA strands and replace them with healthy ones?”
“Can that work?” Hazel asked.
“In theory it can,” Rowan said. “And, actually, there is genetic research being done in labs all over the world to alter either genetics or DNA. The genetic alterations they’ve achieved don’t seem to have the long-lasting affects we’re looking for.”
“But these tests are being done on mice, right?” Hazel assumed.
Rowan nodded her head. “Yes,” she said. “There are a couple of small human studies, but nothing we could access.”
“Okay, we think it can be done,” Hazel said. “And we’re running out of time. So, why don’t we do something?”
“To actually correct the mutated DNA, we need someone with a close enough strand that’s healthy to infiltrate Joseph’s DNA,” she said. “His grandfather’s strand has a recessive genetic trait for the same disease. It wouldn’t help him.”
“So, you need someone with German DNA, right?” Hazel asked.
Rowan nodded. “Yeah, someone with roots that go back to the same region, Bavaria, as Joseph,” she said.
Hazel shook her head. “This makes so much sense,” she whispered, a look of amazement on her face.
“What?” Rowan asked.
“Me,” she said. “My father was German. You need to test me.”
Rowan’s jaw dropped for a moment. “I never even considered…” she began. “But of course, the way things have just fallen into place with Henry and me, I should have thought of you and Joseph.”
“What do you need?” Hazel asked. “Should I spit in a tube?”
Rowan grinned and shook her head. “No, I have your information,” she said. “Remember when we were testing the machine when we first bought it? You spit in a tube a year ago.” She turned back to her computer and accessed the files. “Okay, I’m running a comparison on you and Joseph. Cross your fingers.”
Hazel shook her head. “I don’t have to,” she said. “All of this was set in motion before we were even born. I’ll match Joseph. I know I will.”
“I like your confidence,” Rowan said. “And then there’s the next problem.”
“Okay, while you run your numbers,” Hazel said, “let’s solve that one.”
“Easier said than done,” Rowan replied. “How do we merge your healthy DNA with Joseph’s unhealthy DNA?”
“When Cat had her vision, she saw Joseph, didn’t she?” Hazel asked. “She saw you and Henry doing something in the clearing. Working together.”
Rowan nodded and picked up her phone. “Hey Cat, can you come over to the lab?” she asked. “We really need your input on something.”
Rowan hung up the phone and looked at Hazel. “She’s on her way,” she said.
“This has to work,” Hazel said. “Because after this, we have to help Cat find her partner.”
Chapter Fifty-three
“Sorry,” Cat apologized as she entered the office, clothed in the same sterile garb as the others.
“Nice outfit,” Hazel teased, looking at the shapeless, white lab coat.
Cat smiled at her sister. “Great shoes,” she replied, acknowledging the light blue booties. “So, what’s up?”
“The night we cast the circle,” Rowan began, “you mentioned the vision you had that included Joseph. We need more details.”
Cat nodded. “Okay, what do you need?” she asked.
“What were Rowan and Henry doing?” Hazel asked.
“Everyone was in a clearing,” Cat recounted. “Rowan and Henry were standing together, their hands clasped, eyes closed, and they were working together. That was the impression I was given.”
“So, they were healing someone, but they weren’t touching anyone,” Hazel said. “Isn’t that odd?”
Rowan nodded slowly. “We weren’t talking. Our eyes were closed, and we were forming a circle with our clasped hands,” she repeated. “Was the clearing a cast circle?”
Cat closed her eyes for a moment and then nodded slowly. “It could have been,” she said. “It was definitely a circle, but there was no protective light around it.”
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“Since it was outside, we could have dimmed the light,” Hazel suggested.
“That’s true,” Cat agreed. “So, let’s assume that it was a cast circle. Why is that important?”
“Well, if Henry and I were to astral project ourselves as healers,” Rowan mused, “that would be the way we would do it.”
“You can do that?” Hazel asked.
Rowan shrugged. “I have no idea,” she said. “I’ve never tried it.”
“But why would you even need to do that?” Hazel asked. “Why not just put your hands on Joseph and heal him?”
“It’s not healing with the DNA strands,” Rowan said. “It’s more like directing. Like when we took the poison from Gabriella’s body. We didn’t heal her liver. We removed a foreign substance from it. It’s kind of the same thing, but in reverse.”
“You would have to put a strand of corrected DNA into his molecular structure,” Cat said. “So, you’d be working on the cellular level of his anatomy. Can you do that?”
Rowan shrugged again. “I have no idea, once again,” she admitted.
“But how do you get the right DNA into his body?” Cat asked. “If you are astral projecting in order to reach those basic structural components, you can’t carry it in there with you.”
Hazel turned to Cat. “In your vision, describe what you saw happening between Joseph and me,” she requested.
Cat nodded. “Okay, this was a little odd,” she said. “Joseph walked up to you and took both of your hands. Then you walked forward, got closer to him, and then, you were gone. But I knew you weren’t gone. You were inside of him.”
“Inside of him,” Hazel repeated. “How the heck did I do that?”
“You can’t astral project into him, because your spirit doesn’t carry your DNA,” Rowan said. “Somehow you would have to move your entire essence into his body.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” Hazel said. “I mean, how would anyone do that?”
They sat in silence for a few moments, and then Cat turned to Hazel. “When you built the apartment over the barn, how did you move the materials from the warehouses to the barn?” she asked.
“I just pictured what I wanted and then kind of mentally searched for who had it. Then I pictured it where I wanted it and, blingo, it was there.”
“See, that’s why I can’t do that kind of magic,” Cat teased. “I don’t know magic words like blingo.”
Hazel turned to her oldest sister and stuck out her tongue. “Don’t mock my choice of exclamatories.”
Rowan, ignoring her sisters’ conversation, was lost in thought. “Hazel,” she said slowly. “Try picturing the kitchen in your mind.”
“Okay,” Hazel said with a shrug. “I’m picturing it.”
“Now picture yourself in it,” Rowan said. “And do your blingo thing.”
Suddenly, Hazel disappeared from in front of them.
“Shouldn’t we have set up some fail-safes before you sent your sister into the ether?” Cat demanded.
“I didn’t realize…” Rowan stammered. “I didn’t know…”
Suddenly Hazel appeared back in her seat with a cookie in her hand. “Now that was fun,” she said, pulling two more cookies from her lab coat pocket and handing them to her sisters. “I haven’t done that since high school.”
“Wait. You’ve done that before?” Rowan asked.
Hazel opened her mouth, then shut it. “No,” she finally said. “I’ve never done that before. I always stayed up in my room when I was grounded, especially if there was a party I wanted to go to.”
“You are such a brat,” Rowan said. “You never told me.”
Hazel shrugged. “It was my superpower. I was like Clark Kent, only less buff,” she replied.
“Okay, we have a solution,” Cat said.
Hazel shook her head. “If I did that to Joseph, he’d probably explode.”
Chapter Fifty-four
“No,” Joseph said firmly, picking up a bale of straw and walking it over to the pen. “It’s just not an option.”
“But I’ve been practicing,” Hazel pleaded, putting the pitchfork down for a moment. “I’ve been able to stay in this really awesome particle stage for five minutes.”
“And what happens if you slip out of the particle stage?” he asked, placing the bale on the ground and peeling off his gloves.
She shrugged. “I’m pretty small, and you’re pretty big,” she said. “You could probably handle it.”
“And you would suffocate because you’d be trapped inside me with no way to breath,” he said. “No. We’re not doing it.”
“Rowan and Henry would be right there,” she argued, “monitoring the whole thing, the whole time.”
“And you can’t even guarantee that it will work,” he argued. “I’m not going to have you risk your life for something that might not even work.”
She leaned the pitchfork against the pen and walked over to him. “So, let me make sure I have this straight,” she said, her hands on her hips. “In the next few months, my family and I are going to have to face a demon of epic proportion. We are going to sacrifice everything we have in order to save the world, pretty much. We’ve been told that we can’t do it alone, only with others who were foreordained to be our partners. And if we try to do it alone, we will probably die and not destroy the demon.”
She stepped even closer and poked him in his chest with her finger. “You and I both agree that between the way we met and the fact that my DNA can potentially stop your death, that you were destined to be my partner in this quest.” She shrugged. “I could be wrong. It could be Lefty, but I’m thinking it’s you. But you aren’t willing to let me help you in a slightly risky experiment because I might have to hold my breath for a few minutes? You’d rather I wait and die by demon fire?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No, it’s not like that.”
“We have two days until the full moon,” she said. “Two freaking days. You want me to sacrifice my whole family because you’re afraid for me? Would you sacrifice your family if you were in the same situation?”
He sighed. “Hazel, you don’t understand,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t,” she interrupted. “We have the ability to save you. All we need is your permission.”
“If you die, I’ll never forgive myself,” he said.
She rolled her eyes and poked his chest again. “If I die, you’ll only have a couple more days to live,” she said. “You’ll get over it.”
He sighed. “Hazel.”
“Say yes,” she said with determination, “because, that’s the only answer I’ll accept.”
He placed his hands on her upper arms. “Can you promise…”
She shook her head. “I can’t and won’t promise anything,” she said. “Because sometimes you just have to take a risk and move forward in faith.”
He smiled at her. “My mom used to say that,” he said.
“See, it’s an old German saying,” Hazel replied.
“My mom was Native American,” he said.
“Borrowed from the Native Americans,” she amended.
Chuckling, he bent forward and kissed her. “I love you, you know,” he said softly.
She kissed him back. “Really, how could you resist?” she teased.
She slipped her hand into his and tugged gently. “Come on,” she urged.
He shook his head and followed after her. “What? Where are we going?” he asked.
“To the clearing,” she replied as they exited the barn. “To cure you.”
“But your family…”
“Are all there waiting for us,” she said, opening the pasture gate.
“But how did they know…”
She stopped, reached up and kissed him lightly again. “I told them that I wasn’t going to give you any other option,” she replied.
He planted his feet. “I don’t think I like this,” he said.
She met his eyes, all
of the teasing gone from hers. “I would gladly die for you,” she said sincerely. “And if something were to happen to you, I don’t know how I would go on. But, I would, because I would need to stand with my family.” She placed her hand on his arm. “But, if I have a choice, I would rather fight. I would rather fight for your life, fight for my family, and fight with you against the demon and win, so we can live happily ever after.”
He pulled her to him and crushed his lips against hers. Then he stepped back and took a deep breath. “Let’s fight.”
Chapter Fifty-five
The woods were silent, except for a soft wind, and the stars were barely visible because the nearly full moon cast its bright glow on the fields and woods. The moon shadows of spindly branches flowed along the ground, dancing a willowy ballet as a corps de ballet of young trees bowed and swayed to the music of the wind. Hazel guided Joseph down a narrow path that finally opened up to a small, circular clearing.
“We love this place,” she whispered.
He stepped inside the circle and looked around. Ancient oaks surrounded them like pillars in an ancient cathedral, their uppermost limbs intertwining overhead to create an arched dome that married the earth and the sky. He took a deep breath and turned to Hazel. “I smell candles,” he replied, keeping his own voice soft as the sacredness of the place demanded it.
She smiled and nodded. “Cool, right?” she agreed quietly.
He noticed the rest of the family entering the clearing from the other side, and Hazel wrapped her arms around his arm and walked with him to the center.
“Well met,” Agnes said, her voice deep and melodic. She turned to Joseph. “Do you accept this gift we offer you?”
He paused. He hadn’t thought of it as a gift, but he suddenly realized it was. “Yes,” he said. “With gratitude.”
