T*Witches: Destiny's Twins

by Randi Reisfeld

  She fought the temptation to put her hands over her ears. Too lame. Too weak a move. She rolled over angrily. Pulling the comforter around her, she set her feet on the carpet. “If you want to talk to me, wait out front,” she ordered him, then turned away and, trailing the comforter, shuffled into the bathroom. And slammed the door behind her.

  Alex, where are you? Cam sent a telepathic message. Help. I need you. Now!

  Minutes later, as she was rinsing toothpaste from her mouth, the bathroom door burst open and her sister charged in — wielding an iron fireplace poker.

  Cam almost choked. “Ease up,” she sputtered, after spewing the foaming herbal concoction into the sink. “I’m okay. I just wanted to talk to you about Shane.”

  “And the word help in your shout-out? That was what, just a hiccup?” Alex groused.

  Cam turned off the tap. “He’s here.”

  “I know. I caught a whiff of him: peppermint, cedar —”

  “And cloves,” Cam said, realizing that her sense of smell had seriously improved.

  “And skunk, I was going to say,” her sister declared.

  Cam let it ride. “I just want you to … to be with me when I go out there to talk to him.”

  “Which you’re going to do … why? After the disgusting, to say nothing of near deadly, way he treated you, treated us, actually,” Alex reminded her. “Why bother? Or are you still jonesing for the boy?”

  “So not! I just want to find out —” Cam stopped in midsentence. She looked away from Alex, then turned back, flushed, her cheeks burning. “Maybe,” she said softly. “I’m not sure.”

  Alex was impressed. “That ought to move you up in the honesty sweepstakes,” she teased.

  “Which is not why I said it,” her sister snapped defensively. “Als, don’t you want to find out about him, about his relationship with Thantos? Don’t you feel… don’t you get a sense that there’s something smarmy going on there?”

  “Smarmy?” Alex replied. “Yo, let me think. There’s Thantos, who’s been trying to off one or both of us since we were born. And there’s Shane, who lies like he breathes. And you want to know what — if there’s something smarmy going on? Dude, if you check Webster’s for the definition of smarmy, you’ll see their faces. But what are we going to do — ask Shane to tell us all about it? The one thing we know for sure about the boy is: Shane and the truth? Not friends. Not even acquaintances. To say nothing of the fact that as a Coventry warlock, he’s got the perfect out. He’s not supposed to answer any of our questions.”

  “Out loud,” Cam added pointedly. “But if we can pick his brain — come on, Als. We’re getting good at lots of things we couldn’t do before. I tapped into Amaryllis’s head when she was trying to lock us out. If I could do it, it should be a piece of … pie,” Cam teased, “for you. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

  “Sure. And we’ve got all day to do it. Not. Did you forget, today’s the day we get tested on Applied Magick —”

  “Perfect,” Cam said. “Let’s apply some … to Shane.”

  He was waiting at the front gate. A sudden breeze stirred his glossy pale hair. It fell over his azure eyes. The warlock tossed his head to clear his vision — and saw Cam coming toward him. His face lit up with pleasure at the sight of her.

  Don’t be so sure. Gripping her moon charm, Alex was a few steps behind her sister. She, too, had caught the swift change in the boy’s mood but was not as convinced as Cam that it was all about joy. His thoughts are locked down tight, she told her twin.

  How can he be so bad and look so good? Cam mused.

  Alex frowned with frustration but Shane grinned broadly. He’d heard Cam’s thought, too, Alex realized.

  He can read you, she warned her twin. Grab your sun charm and use the peephole.

  Cam’s cheeks reddened with embarrassment, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Even as she slammed an imaginary door shut on her thoughts, her feelings were loud and clear. She was hopelessly happy to see him.

  And the tall, strapping warlock who was staring intently at her knew it.

  He’d have had to be blind not to, Alex thought. Your sun charm! she reminded her smitten twin again.

  But Shane wasted no time getting his arms around Cam. He lifted her off her feet and twirled with her. “It feels so good to hold you again,” he murmured. “What happened the last time you were here, Cam … happened at Crailmore — it couldn’t have taken place anywhere else. I’d gotten free of Lord Thantos, but he lured me back. It was being there with him that made me do what I did. It’s Crailmore. It’s an evil place. You’ve got to stay away from there,” he was saying, his eyes holding her as forcefully as his arms.

  And Cam’s eyes — her extraordinary gray eyes that could cut through walls, start fires, see the future — were glazing over. She couldn’t tear them away from Shane’s insistent stare.

  He was casting a spell over her, Alex realized.

  Cam … Apolla … Yo! she was practically shouting through the peephole in her mind.

  Nothing.

  Cam’s hands were on Shane’s powerful shoulders. Her sun charm dangled uselessly at her throat as he spun her around.

  Her sister might be helpless, Alex thought, but she wasn’t — and she wasn’t going to just hang back and watch the scheming warlock play Cam one more time.

  For starters, she could follow their plan, find out what was on the rude boy’s mind. Which should be easy, since he hadn’t even acknowledged her!

  Alex closed her eyes and tried to zero in on Shane’s thoughts. At first she saw nothing, only heard a crackle of static and disconnected, barely audible words that meant his thoughts were scrambled. Then in the darkness jumpy lines appeared, zigzagging wildly, as if the static had become visible.

  She concentrated harder. Focused all her senses.

  The jerking agitated lines filled suddenly with blinding colors. A molten river of red, violet, yellow streamed behind her eyelids. The colors were random words, escaped sounds, hidden thoughts.…

  Alex clutched her charm so tightly that the edges of the amulet almost tore into her palm. “At Crailmore, I’m powerless around your uncle,” the dishonest warlock was telling Cam, making excuses for the last time he’d turned against her. “He commands and I obey.”

  But soon the tables will be turned. Destiny will be done.

  Alex heard it — so plainly that at first she thought Shane had said it out loud.

  Then he was speaking aloud again, telling Cam: “He’s dangerous. Stay away from him. Now more than ever, stay away from Crailmore. Promise me.”

  For my ancestors must be avenged.

  Alex’s eyes opened. What was he thinking about?

  Shane glanced at her questioningly, momentarily unsure.

  “Put her down,” Alex demanded. “We have to go. We’ve got things to do.”

  Does it matter so much to you? the smirking warlock silently challenged her. He’s done you nothing but harm.

  Who? Alex wondered.

  “Put me down!” Cam suddenly said. Shane had broken eye contact with her, and she was coming out of her stupor. “I… I’m dizzy … I feel sick.”

  “No problem.” The brash blond boy spun to face Cam again. “I’ll take care of you,” he promised.

  Alex stepped between them and put an arm around Cam’s shoulder. “Thanks, but no thanks,” she told the treacherous warlock. “You’ve done way too much already.”

  They were due at the Unity Dome at noon. To face possibly the most important exam of their lives. And Cam was struggling back to consciousness while Alex was hung up on Shane’s secret thoughts. They needed to snap out of it and get ready.

  Two gowns had been laid across their bed. One was gold threaded through with vibrant pink-and-red highlights, the other was a shimmering blue-gray. There were hooded robes to match. And velvet slippers that reminded Cam of the ones their beloved Karsh had always worn.

  “You pick first,” Cam forced herself to say, though even wit
h somewhat blurry eyesight, she’d already fallen for the glam gold gown.

  “Like I care?” Alex rolled her eyes. “You choose. And don’t let the fact that one is the color of moonlight and the other the gold of dawn influence you too much.”

  “How cool is that?” Cam laughed, realizing that her sister had nailed it. The sunny gown was meant for her; the one that shone like silver moonlight was Alex’s.

  Once they’d had a delicious bath in scented salts and soothing herbs, then dressed, there were two more rituals they needed to perform before setting out for the Unity Dome.

  One was to rid themselves of ill will. According to Ceremonial Preparation and Purification Procedures, this meant making and burning a list of those who’d caused them grief. Two was to do a purifying meditation.

  Cam expected the first to take longer than the second, given the list of villains who’d messed with them. But like so much on the island, the opposite of what she’d expected happened.

  Agreed, a posse, a pack, a plethora of bad guys had tried to do them in. To name a few: Thantos, their depraved uncle; the ever-devious Shane; toxic Sersee and her crew, the Furies; and, of course, Amaryllis; their idiot uncle Fredo and the freaks that were his spawn, Tsuris and Vey … But listing them and trashing the list per Coventry tradition took less than a couple of minutes.

  It was the purifying ritual that took longer. And, in the end, felt more centering and soul-strengthening. They did it separately.

  Cam chose the rose arbor at the entrance to Luna Soleil as her meditation place. The summer blooms were gone, but nuggets of bright red rose hips dangled from the tangled, thorny branches. Whether flowering or hardened for winter, the rose represented love, which was, Cam thought, what she wanted to think about.

  She sat under the arbor, closed her eyes, and let her thoughts wander. They went to Shane. Cam fought the urge to banish his image and allowed herself to feel shame, frustration, longing.…

  When she’d questioned Rhianna about him, the Initiation Master had said that they already had the answer. That it was in Karsh’s journal.

  Karsh.

  Lord Karsh Antayus.

  The old warlock’s image came into her mind. As always, he was dressed in black. His odd vest, a doublet it was called, and his trousers and slippers were all of black velvet, sleek and soft. His papery brown scalp showed through his thinning nappy hair, and through the white ointment he’d worn to preserve his ancient skin.

  The pale paste had terrified Cam the first time she saw it.

  Ileana maintained that Karsh wore it like war paint. The combination of herbs and powders that went into the ointment fortified the old tracker’s strength and courage.

  Tears poured down Cam’s cheeks. The sight of his face didn’t strike fear in her heart now but melted it. She was so glad to see him again.

  “So the day has come,” he said softly in his raspy voice.

  Alex sat cross-legged in the center of a stand of evergreens behind Luna Soleil. The soft rug of pine needles under her, the sweet scent of earth and trees, even the autumn chill — she might have been back in Montana with her beloved adoptive “Moms.”

  Back, back when Sara was young and vibrant… before cancer ate away at her lungs. This was the image of her protector that came to Alex’s mind. And spoke to her.

  “So the day has come,” Sara whispered.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE TESTS

  The usually bustling plaza was empty as the twins, flanked by Ileana and Miranda, hurried across its cobblestones to the Unity Dome. Outside the splendid building, a swarm of children waited to catch a glimpse of Cam and Alex.

  Excitement crackled through the young crowd. Sighs and gulps, nervous laughter, and shouted greetings heralded their approach.

  “Good luck!” “Apolla, Artemis, over here!” “How beautiful they are!” “Happy Initiation!”

  Ileana strode through the mini mob with dignified determination, setting the pace. Miranda brought up the rear of the little procession. Bookended by the women, Cam and Alex were trembling. Their hands, gripping each other’s, were sweaty and their lips were parched.

  As the tall doors to the imposing building swung open, a babble of voices assailed them. The round stadium was filled to overflowing. Sunlight pierced the glass dome, illuminating a colorful, fluttering, noisy hive of expectant witches and warlocks.

  That fell silent as the quartet moved across the marble floor.

  At the center of the arena, Lady Rhianna waited with her colleagues, Lady Fan and Lord Grivveniss. They sat behind a judges’ bench so tall that Cam and Alex could see only the tops of the gold bowl and twin gold boxes in front of the trio, and the computer monitor that sat in front of Lady Rhianna. Lady Fan and Lord Grivveniss would each “grade” the twins with stones, then send their marks to Lady Rhianna via e-mail.

  The island’s other Exalted Elders occupied the first tier of the steep stadium. Before each of them was a laptop computer. Row after row behind the Elders was filled with robed witches and warlocks. Alex noticed Sersee and her crew high up, near the back of the auditorium. Every servant or fledgling she’d ever seen at Crailmore was there, too — except for Amaryllis. Thantos’s servant was still in Marble Bay.

  “Welcome, Apolla and Artemis DuBaer. It is rare that two fledglings share an Initiation day, rarer still that they are twins,” Rhianna greeted them.

  Cam gave her sister a slight nudge with her elbow — not out of nervousness, but because Alex was studying the crowd and not really listening to the easily annoyed old witch, who could fail them if she wanted to.

  “Check out the family row,” Alex whispered, elbowing her sister right back and nodding toward the row where Ileana and their mother were heading.

  “Ugh! It’s Fredo.” Cam couldn’t control her disgust. Their uncle, the very one who’d admitted to killing their father, was there. “How’d he break out of the Peninsula?”

  The Peninsula was the closest thing to a prison on Coventry. Fredo was supposed to be locked up there.

  “They probably did a forgiveness ceremony on him just for our Initiation,” Alex ventured.

  Cam looked blank.

  “Didn’t you read Policies of the Peninsula? Forget Fredo. Guess who’s cutting?”

  Thantos wasn’t there.

  “No loss.” As Cam began to turn back to the Unity Council bench, her eyes caught sight of a couple with an empty seat between them. The man had intense blue eyes and long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. The woman was attractive, too. Both of them were dressed in black velvet, and both seemed strangely stressed out. There was an aura of anger and eagerness about them.

  Though Cam was sure she’d never seen him before, the man looked familiar to her. Trying not to move her lips, she hissed at Alex, “Who’s that guy in the black vest like Karsh’s? He looks like …” Cam tried to place him.

  “Shane,” they both said.

  “Bet they’re his parents,” Alex ventured.

  “Bet it’s his seat they’re saving,” Cam said.

  “Apolla!” They turned back to the bench to face an irritated Lady Fan. She was impatiently tossing a gleaming stone from one tiny hand to the other. “The verbal part of the Initiation test will now begin. I suggest you pay attention. For each correct response, you will receive one sacred stone, which I will collect in these boxes. There is, as tradition dictates, one for each of you.” Before Cam could fully focus, the tiny witch hurled the first question at her. “Apolla. What purpose does healing play in our craft?”

  Shaken by Lady Fan’s abruptness, Cam was unprepared. “Healing?” she stalled. “Healing is … very important.”

  Disappointed and disapproving, the little witch shook her head. No stones went into the gold box marked Apolla.

  “Artemis, can you enlighten us further?” the white-haired, even-tempered Lord Grivveniss, asked Alex.

  She’d studied this. She knew this. But it was as if a timer were ticking loudly, drowning out th
e answer in her brain. Alex closed her eyes and tried to see rather than hear the answer. There was the page, the paragraph, from Moral Principles of Magick, that held the answer! “Every spell, all magick,” she began to recite.

  “Is properly used for healing!” Cam suddenly remembered, cutting her sister off.

  The next question was a follow-up, delivered by Rhianna. “What part does forgiveness play in the act of healing?”

  “Most, if not all, healing comes from forgiveness!” Cam blurted.

  Lady Fan frowned but grudgingly dropped a stone into Cam’s box.

  Steaming, Alex stepped in front of her sister. “And forgiveness only exists in a commitment to love and service to others —” she practically shouted.

  “By releasing anger and fear!” Cam called over her sister’s shoulder.

  “Excellent effort!” Lord Grivveniss cheered.

  Click. Clack. Both Elders deposited stones into the girls’ boxes. Rhianna, who had closed her eyes in exasperation, now opened them and called out to the front row: “On the definition of healing, have you finished viewing the fledglings?”

  “We have.” “Indeed.” “Ready, your Ladyship,” came the responses. The Elders struck a key on their laptops — Send, Cam figured — and Lady Rhianna checked her monitor. With a nod, she dipped into the bowl and removed a handful of stones. These she dropped quickly into the boxes.

  Too quickly for Cam to figure out who got which stones and how many of each.

  “Don’t do that again,” Alex warned her, under her breath.

  “They asked me first,” her sister retorted.

  “Silence! Artemis, Apolla!” Lady Rhianna was glaring at them. When she had their attention, she turned to her colleague. “Grivveniss —”

  “Yes, well, now then,” the old man harrumphed. “Apolla. Describe the forgiveness procedure recommended in Policies of the Peninsula.”

  Cam bit her lip. Had the aged warlock listened in and chosen his question just to trip her up?

  “Paranoid much? The Elders gather around the prisoner and recite to him every good thing he’s ever done,” Alex told Cam, just loud enough for the front row to hear.