The smoke faded but the weird sensation in my belly grew stronger and stronger. I cried out for help, desperately trying to anchor myself to the ground but then I realized I was falling.
When the smoke finally cleared, I landed hard on something soft and firm.
I gasped.
I was no longer in the woods.
I was in my bed.
Chapter Two
It took me a moment to realize that Ligeia had somehow transported me instantly from the coven to my bedroom. How had she done that? And furthermore, why the heck hadn’t Monica told me that things would be so… weird?
I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, honestly. My knowledge of witches and witchcraft was pretty limited. Mom and Dad didn’t like me watching scary movies—I’d loved them when I was a kid, but after I started having nightmares, Mom said no more. It felt a little ridiculous… after all, I wasn’t a kid anymore.
But I couldn’t lie—the whole initiation process had spooked the hell out of me.
I hadn’t been in my room for more than five seconds when the door opened. Mom stepped inside, glancing around.
“Oh, you’re back,” she said.
I frowned. “Uh…”
Mom shook her head. “Don’t worry about making excuses,” she said in a strangely toneless voice. “I don’t need to know, Elizabeth.”
“I’m sorry, I was—”
Mom held up her hand. I noticed that her eyes looked strangely glassy.
“Really, Elizabeth, it’s fine. Just don’t fall behind in school.” Mom yawned. “You feel like having dinner with us downstairs?”
My stomach was still weak and aching from whatever poison Ligeia had fed me, but I didn’t want to make any waves. I couldn’t believe my mom was acting so casually—normally she was the type to freak if I was gone for more than a few hours.
“Um, Mom,” I said, sliding off my bed and stretching. “How long was I gone?”
My mom turned to me and cocked her head to the side. “I… I don’t know,” she said. “A few weeks?” She shrugged. “I figured you and Monica were off, doing something fun. Anything would be better than hanging around here,” she added. “So, it’s not really like I can be mad, huh?”
I stared. Am I dreaming, I wondered as I looked around my room. But the clock on the wall seemed to be correct, and my computer screen looked normal. Appliances don’t work in dreams. So this must be real. But why is she acting so strangely?
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Mom nodded. “Okay, honey,” she said. “You look a little pale.”
You think, I thought sarcastically. I’ve been stranded in the woods for weeks with a bunch of weirdo witches who literally poisoned me.
Mom gave me a tentative smile, then walked out of my room, leaving the door open. As soon as she was down the hall, I quickly shut my door and lifted my shirt.
There was no trace of Ligeia’s pentagram, or the red paint.
Weird.
I went down to dinner, half-expecting it to be a set-up where my mom unleashed anger at me for being gone so long. But if anything, it was one of the most normal dinners we’d ever had. Dad had his nose stuck in a paper, and my younger brother, Aidan, spent the whole time complaining.
When Mom mentioned something about a militia, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
“What’s going on?” I tried to keep my voice as casual as possible. “Did something else happen?”
Mom sighed. “Oh, honey—jeez, I’m glad you were gone for so long. You weren’t around to see all of this.”
I narrowed my eyes. “All of… what?”
Mom bit her lip. “The neighbors went missing,” she said. “At least… that’s what your father and I thought.”
I stared at her. There were so many inconsistencies that I had no idea where I should even begin. For one thing, why did my mom care more about the neighbors vanishing than her own daughter? And had it occurred to her that they could have kidnapped me? Something very unusual is going on. I bit my lip, squirming in my seat.
“Did they come home?” I asked quietly.
Mom shook her head. “Linda died,” she said.
“What?” My jaw dropped. “She was so young! They’d only been married for what, like five years?”
Mom nodded. “Yes,” she said. “There was a coroner’s hearse at the house with a plain coffin. No funeral.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “It wasn’t allowed,” she added.
A chill ran down my spine. “What?”
“Yes,” Mom said hesitantly. She glanced at Aidan, but he was too concerned poking his food. “She… well, honey, she was accused of witchcraft. Her body was burned.”
I swallowed. The food in my mouth turned to ash as I stared at my mother in disbelief.
“You’re kidding,” I said softly.
“No,” Mom said. She sighed. “It was terrible.”
I licked my lips and forced myself to swallow. “I should really start to get caught up on homework,” I said. “I probably missed a lot.”
Mom nodded. She still had that faraway, dreamy look in her eyes. “Yes,” she said. “That’s a good idea.”
I shivered as I climbed the stairs and locked myself in my room. I had no intention of doing my homework. Instead, I grabbed my phone and dialed Monica.
Come on, I prayed as the phone rang and rang. Come on, pick up! I need to talk to you!
Monica’s voicemail came on and I sighed in disgust, hanging up before the chance to leave a message. Just as I was about to pull on my jacket and start the walk over to her house, my phone buzzed.
“Hello?”
“It’s me,” Monica said quickly. “What’s up?”
“Are you home right now?”
“Not exactly.”
“Are you with David?”
“Elizabeth, what’s up?” Monica said. She sounded weary. “Did you just get back?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Look, I really need to talk to you. What the fuck is going on with my parents?”
Monica sighed. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I can’t meet up right now. I’m working.”
“On what?”
There was a pause and I swallowed hard.
“Oh,” I said quietly.
“Yeah,” Monica said. “I’m sorry—I’m working with Henrik right now, and I can’t really take time off. We have to figure things out.”
“I see. How did you know I called then? You can’t possibly have a phone in the co—the you know,” I said quickly.
“I sensed it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You must be getting stronger.”
“Yes.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry… I just… it feels really weird to be back here. My parents are acting like zombies and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do in order to help them.”
“It’s because of Henrik,” Monica said quietly. “It’s… something he does. Remember when you went to see Jamie and Brian last fall?”
“Oh.” I felt like an idiot. Why didn’t I realize they were being manipulated, I thought angrily.
“Yeah. Look, Elizabeth—I’ve got to go. I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay.” A lump formed in my throat. I’d so been looking forward to seeing my best friend again that I felt a sudden wave of intense sadness.
“Bye.”
“Bye,” I echoed.
Monica hung up and I flopped down on my bed, closing my eyes. This is so fucked up. I can’t even talk to the only other person in town who knows what’s going on… and it’s Henrik’s fault. Damn that old man, I added silently, snuggling into the blankets and resting my head on the pillows.
Damn him.
---
The next morning, I got dressed and decided that I’d set out in search of the coven. Ligeia had told me that I wouldn’t be able to find it on my own, but I wondered if she’d been lying.
But hours later
, after walking in literal circles, I felt discouraged. The sun sunk low in the sky by the time I got back home. Just as I was about to cross my yard and go into the garage, I heard a car pull up behind me. Great. This is seriously just what I need. I held my hands in the air, prepared to be dragged to jail once again.
“Elizabeth?”
That didn’t sound like a cop.
Turning around, I saw Steven standing there with a big, goofy grin on his face. “I thought that was you,” he added. “How are you?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “How are you?”
Steven stepped closer. His eyes sparkled with something… strange, something I’d only seen once before. A chill ran down my spine when I recognized the intense look—Steven had looked the exact same way, right before we’d had sex for the first (and only) time.
“I’m great now that you’re here,” Steven said. He grinned. “I missed you. Where did you go, anyway?”
“I stayed with a cousin,” I lied. “My, uh, my mom thought it would be good for me to get out town for a few days.”
Steven laughed. “More like a few weeks,” he said. He stepped closer and reached for my hand. When our fingers touched, a shock crossed from his touch to mine. “You really know how to drive a guy wild,” he added. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
I blushed. This is new. Why is being like this? He’s normally so… standoffish!
“Come on,” Steven said. He glanced mournfully into my eyes. “Don’t tell me—you didn’t miss me, too?”
I bit my lip. “Of course I did,” I said quietly. “I really missed being home.”
Steven fell silent for a minute. When he leaned in to kiss me, I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck. His nose was cold against my cheek, but his lips were warm and dry and safe somehow, almost like I’d found a refuge from the storm raging in my mind.
“Mn,” Steven purred into my mouth. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer. Just as I started to relax, the sound of a police siren made me leap backwards. Steven groaned as we both put our hands into the air.
“It’s barely dark,” I grumbled under my breath. “When is this stupid curfew going to end?”
The air was filled with blueberry and cherry lights, flashing on and off in a frantic pattern that made me want to vomit. As the car slowed to a stop, a portly cop got out and cocked his head to the side.
“Elizabeth Hartsell?”
“Yeah,” I said miserably. “I know. I broke curfew.”
“Don’t you live right there?”
I frowned. “Yeah,” I said. “Do you want me to get my mom?”
“No. That’s fine, you go on inside.”
I snuck a glance at Steven. His jaw hung open—he was clearly as surprised as I felt.
“What about Steven?”
“You leave Mr. D’Amico to me,” the cop said, speaking harshly to him for the first time.
“He was just leaving,” I said quickly. “We weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“Elizabeth, I told you to go in the house,” the cop said.
I blinked. He’s not even looking at me. What the hell is going on?
“Elizabeth, go,” Steven said in a low voice. He didn’t tear his eyes away from the uniformed officer. “I’ll deal with this, okay? Just go inside.”
Reluctantly, I wrapped my arms around my torso and walked quickly into my house. The downstairs was dark and silent, and I snuck into the living room and peeped out the front blinds, waiting to see what would happen.
I couldn’t hear the cop’s voice—or Steven’s—but judging from their body language, I knew something bad was about to happen. Sure enough, after a minute or two of arguing back and forth, the cop tied Steven’s hands with zip ties and herded him into the back of his car. As they pulled away, the sounds of the siren made me shiver.
“Elizabeth?”
I jumped a foot into the air, gasping and clutching my chest.
“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Mom said. She was frowning. “What are you doing all by yourself in the dark?”
I bit my lip. Then I remembered what Monica had told me. Might as well tell her the truth. It’s not like she’s going to be mad.
“I was out walking and I ran into Steven,” I said slowly. “A cop pulled up but he just told me to go inside, even though I broke curfew. But he took Steven,” I added. “His car is still out there.”
Mom frowned. “Maybe the officer figured you’d learned your lesson?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I guess,” I mumbled. “I’m gonna go to bed.”
“Okay, honey,” Mom chirped. I wondered if she knew it was only seven-thirty. “Sleep well. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
I nodded and climbed the stairs. I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep, but I wanted to be away from everything that was going on. My life was turning into some kind of weird fantasy movie, and I couldn’t wait for the credits to start rolling.
The next morning, I was shocked when Steven’s name flashed across my cell phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Elizabeth,” Steven said. He sounded warm and happy. “You want to take a walk?”
I frowned. “What happened last night?”
“Oh, yeah, that wasn’t so bad…” Steven trailed off. “I wasn’t held for very long. Andrea came downtown and they let me go.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course she did.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them—Steven would probably snap at me and tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about.
“Yeah,” Steven agreed. “She can be a little much sometimes.”
My jaw dropped in shock.
“So, Elizabeth, can I see you? I really miss you,” Steven added.
“Okay. Um, do you want to meet at my house?”
“Sure. I’ll walk over and just take my car home with me.”
When we hung up the phone, I raced into the bathroom and tried to make my hair look presentable. After a light coat of mascara and a swipe of neutral lipstick, I didn’t think I looked too bad. I can’t believe he’s so excited to see me. To be honest, I wasn’t as happy about Steven’s attention as I knew I should be. If anything, it just felt weird. Maybe I should go away more often.
But thinking about going away just reminded me of the coven, and of Monica. I missed her so badly that it hurt.
By the time Steven knocked on my front door, I was deeply in thought about my friend. Thinking about the details of the coven was hard—everything was a blur in my mind—but I felt more frustrated than ever. I didn’t understand why Henrik and Ligeia had agreed to initiate me if they wouldn’t even need my help.
It just didn’t make sense.
“Hey, earth to Elizabeth,” Steven said. He snapped his fingers in front of my face. “You okay? You’re really spacing out.”
“Yeah, sorry,” I said. “I was just… thinking about my cousin, that’s all.”
“I hope you didn’t meet any guys while you were gone,” Steven said.
I stared at him. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Of course I’m not kidding,” Steven said. “I really like you, Elizabeth,” he said. He grabbed my hand and I blinked as his eyes filled with passion.
“I like you, too,” I said quietly. I still did—but somehow, this change in Steven was alarming… even more alarming than the other stuff going on in my life. What the hell did he want from me, exactly?
“This is nice,” Steven replied. He guided me into the woods, along a shady path. The day was mild for winter—some of the snow and ice was finally starting to melt—but I couldn’t help remembering the vivid green grass of the coven. It hadn’t occurred to me at the time, but suddenly I knew that everything had been magicked together. I shivered. And the initiation, I thought nervously. Was that magick, too?
“Elizabeth, hey,” Steven said. He glared at me. “What’s with you? Your mind is all over the place today. I’ve been talking to you for like, five minutes and
you’ve barely even nodded.”
I frowned. “Sorry,” I said. “I guess I’m feeling a little distracted.”
“No shit,” Steven muttered under his breath. He led me into a dark grove of trees and pulled me close, kissing me deeply. I kissed him back, but all the while my mind kept wandering. Henrik. Ligeia. The Coven. Monica. The other witches. Andrea.
What did it all mean?
When cold air hit my bare stomach, I yelped and opened my eyes. Steven had lifted my shirt and he stroked my belly, right where Ligeia had painted the pentagram.
“You’re so hot,” Steven growled. He tried fumbling with the snap of my jeans but I pushed his hand away.
“I don’t think we should,” I said, glancing around. The truth was, I’d never felt less turned on in my whole life.
“Why not?” Steven grinned. He took my hands and held them over my head, pressing me against a tree and kissing me deeply. After a few seconds, he pulled away and narrowed his eyes. “What’s your problem?” Steven asked. “What’s wrong?”
I shrugged, feeling helpless. “I don’t know,” I said. “Look, I’m sorry—I just don’t feel like doing this right now.”
Desperate lust flickered in Steven’s eyes. “Elizabeth, I need you,” he growled. “Come on, it’s been weeks!”
I stared at him and yanked my hands free, putting them on my hips and tugging down my shirt.
“It’s not my responsibility to get you off,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “You’re not being very respectful.”
“I love you, Elizabeth,” Steven said urgently. “I need you. Right now, come on. No one will know, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble. I’ll tell Andrea to help you, so don’t worry.”
My jaw dropped. He’s seriously going to fuck me and then have his sister try to save me? When she’s clearly obsessed with him?
“Elizabeth, I’m serious,” Steven said. He leaned in to kiss me again but I darted to the side and he wound up with a mouthful of my hair. “What’s your fucking problem?” Steven snapped.
I pushed him away with more force than necessary. Steven staggered backwards and looked up at me with wide eyes. For a moment, I felt bad—he looked like a lost little puppy. But then he glared and the tiny amount of sympathy in my heart vanished.
The Uprising (Moonlight Wolves Book 3) Page 41
