And what if I told my friends the truth and it scared them too much? What if they thought I was some sort of monster?
It might be best not to risk it.
“Now that you’re finished whatever it is you’re doing over there, can someone please get me out of this chair?” Becca’s shrill voice filled the chamber, yanking me out of my thoughts.
How had I gotten so distracted with saving Kate that I hadn’t remembered to untie Becca? At least she didn’t appear to have any injuries besides a few cuts. The bird-woman—harpy—must have been so focused on defending itself against the others that it didn’t have time to do anything more to Becca.
“I’ve got it.” Chris jumped up and ran over to Becca. He fiddled with the ropes, untying the ones around her wrists and starting on the ones around her ankles.
I was glad he volunteered, because my head felt hazy again, and I had to struggle to keep my eyes open, like I hadn’t slept in days. I pulled my legs to my chest and buried my head in my knees. I would be fine. I had to be fine. I just needed a few minutes to rest.
“Nicole?” Blake asked, holding me steady. “Are you okay?”
“I’m just tired,” I mumbled, forcing my eyes open in an attempt to remain awake.
Becca ran towards me before Blake could say anything more, wrapping her arms around me with so much force that she nearly pushed me to the ground. “What was that thing?” she asked, continuing her questions in a rush. “And what’s this place? Why did it call us witches? And a demigod? Do you guys really have powers? I mean, I know you have powers because I saw it, but how do you have powers? And since you all have them, do I have them, too?”
Her questions made my head spin, and I pressed my fingers to my temples to stop the pounding. I tried to steady my breathing, but I had to gasp for air, like there wasn’t enough oxygen left in it. Why did no one else notice that the cave was running out of oxygen? They all looked fine—even Kate, who stood up and walked over to us.
“You’re Becca, right?” Kate asked, kneeling in front of her. “Nicole’s sister?”
Becca nodded and crossed her arms. “Yeah,” she said. “I am.”
Kate tucked her hair behind her ears and managed a small smile. “Everything you saw here will take a while to explain,” she said patiently. “But I promise I’ll try my best to answer your questions once we’re out of here and somewhere safe.”
Danielle frowned and placed her hands on her hips. “That’s a terrible idea,” she said. “I know that immediate family members who aren’t witches are allowed to know about us, but what she saw wasn’t normal witchcraft. What if she freaks out and blabs about us to everyone? We should let Darius handle this.”
“Danielle’s right,” Chris said. “We should bring Becca to Darius’s house and have him talk to her.”
“So that means you know how to get us out of here?” Becca asked.
“Sort of,” Chris said. “We’ll figure it out.”
“We can’t leave yet,” Kate said. “First, Nicole needs to get the Book of Shadows.” She looked at me, tilting her head towards the bookstand. “Do you need help getting over there?”
Judging from the concern in her eyes, I must have looked really weak. “I’m fine,” I said, trying to force a smile and stand up. But the world spun, and I had to steady myself on my palms to keep from falling.
Before I could process what was happening, Blake picked me up and carried me over to the Book. I wrapped my arms around his neck and closed my eyes. His skin was so warm. I wanted to nestle into him and sleep forever.
“Nicole?” he whispered, his voice filled with concern. “We need you to lift the Book from the stand. After you do that, you can rest and leave it to me to get you out of here safely. Okay?”
I looked up at him, smiling at his warm eyes staring down at me. “Okay,” I said, although I could barely get the word out. “Sounds good.”
Footsteps sounded behind us, and Chris appeared next to the Book. He gave it a small tug, but it didn’t budge. “It’s stuck,” he said.
Kate tried to lift it, too, but it still refused to move.
“The harpy must have been right that only you can get the Book,” Chris said, looking at me. “You lift it and hand it to me, and I’ll take charge of carrying it out of here, all right?”
“Put me down so I can get it,” I told Blake, blinking a few times to make sure my eyes stayed open.
He eased me down, wrapping his arms around my waist when my feet hit the ground. “You okay?” he asked, his lips only millimeters from my ear. It felt nice to have him so close—warm. Like when we’d kissed at the bottom of the cliff, in the darkness where the others couldn’t see.
Where Danielle couldn’t see.
I shook away the memory and tried to focus. I had to give the Book of Shadows to Chris. Then Blake would pick me up again and I could rest in his arms while he got me out of the cave. It sounded so welcoming that I wanted to give in and close my eyes right now.
But first I had to get the Book.
Knowing that Blake wouldn’t let me fall, I reached forward and wrapped my hands around the Book’s edges. It was dusty—like it had been sitting in the cave for years. The dust stuck to my palms, making them dry and slippery. But somehow, I gathered the strength to lift it up.
I’d only lifted it an inch before Chris took it from my hands. The ground swayed beneath my feet, and Blake tightened his grip around me, lifting me back into his arms. I rested my head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat—slow and steady, like a lullaby.
He brushed a strand of hair off my face and tucked it behind my ear. “You did a great job,” he whispered, trailing his finger down my cheek. My skin tingled at his touch. “If it weren’t for you, I would have drowned in the ocean, and none of us would be here right now. You saved my life. And when you fell down that cliff…” He paused, and I heard his heart speed up. “I was terrified. I thought you were gone. All I could think about was—”
“Are we leaving or what?” Danielle’s shrill voice filled the cave. “I’ve had enough of musty caves for the day. Can she walk?”
“Does it look like she can walk?” Chris’s voice sounded muffled, like he’d gone somewhere else while Blake and I had been talking. Well, when Blake had been talking to me, since it took too much energy for me to add anything to the conversation. And what was he going to say before Danielle interrupted? All he could think about was … what?
I wanted to ask, but I didn’t have enough energy to speak.
“She used up more energy than she should have…” Kate trailed.
“She can borrow some of ours to heal herself,” Chris suggested. “Like we did before.”
“It’s not that simple.” Kate spoke so quietly that I had to strain to hear her. “It’s different than what you did with me. And that was dangerous, too—if I had been conscious, I would have told you not to try it.”
“How’s it different?” Chris asked.
“We allowed Nicole to channel our energy to heal Kate so she didn’t have to use as much of her own,” Blake explained. I could feel the vibrations in his chest as he spoke. It felt nice against my cheek. “She transferred our energy into white energy without absorbing it into her own life force. Then she used that energy to heal Kate. If she had taken any for herself, she could have killed all of us in the process, since it’s nearly impossible to break the connection once you start taking someone’s energy. And after you do it once, that’s it. You’ll always need the energy of others to survive. There were enough of us to fend her off if she made a mistake and took our energy instead of conducting it, but even if she’d only taken a bit, it would have been too late. We would have turned her into a killer.”
“So why did we give her our energy at all?” Chris asked. “Why didn’t we let her try to heal Kate on her own?”
“Because she didn’t have enough energy left, so she would have killed herself, and then Kate would have died, too,” Danielle said. “And we
need to all stay alive—even if it meant risking Nicole turning into an energy-sucking killer. Let’s just be glad that didn’t happen. Because once the Elders found out—”
“They wouldn’t have found out,” Blake interrupted. “We would have protected Nicole. No matter what.”
“It’s irrelevant, because none of us are killers,” Kate said. “We’re all fine.”
Ice ran through my veins, and I stayed as still as possible, glad that my eyes were closed and no one could see the guilt I was feeling. Because while it was different than what they were discussing, I was exactly what they feared. A killer.
I’d killed the harpy just by touching it.
I knew now more than ever—no one could know about what I’d done. Because I doubted I wanted to know firsthand what the punishment would be if the Elders found out.
Keeping it secret was the only way to ensure I stayed safe.
“There has to be something we can do for her now,” Chris said. “Look at her. She can’t even walk.”
“As long as she doesn’t use up any more energy, she’ll probably just need rest,” Kate said. “But we have to take her to Darius. He’ll know what to do for her.”
I wanted to help them get out of here. How were they going to get out without me?
But just the thought of opening my eyes was exhausting, and I finally gave in and let sleep claim me, unable to stay awake for any longer.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The first thing I felt when I woke up was heat on my face. The sun.
Which would have been normal, except my bedroom didn’t have any windows facing east, so the sunlight didn’t enter in the morning.
The lack of morning light made me miss my room in Georgia.
Maybe I was still in my room in Georgia. Maybe all of that witch stuff was a dream, and I would open my eyes and be back in my old house, getting ready to start school again after winter break. Everything that had happened recently was certainly strange enough to have been a dream—a very strange, vivid dream.
But my throat was so dry, as if I hadn’t had water in days. I swallowed, and it felt like a hundred tiny knives jabbing the back of my throat. My tongue had swelled up and felt like sandpaper. I needed water. But first I needed enough energy to stand up and get it. And right now, I could barely manage to roll over.
“Nicole?” a quiet voice asked. “Are you awake?”
Footsteps sounded nearby, getting closer until whoever it was placed something on the nightstand—a glass, judging from the clink as it hit the surface. “If you’re up, there’s ice water for you on the table,” she continued. “It might help you get some energy back.”
I pictured what the water must look like—the cool glass covered with condensation—and my throat burned with the thought. Crust coated my eyes, and I pried them open, greeted by the light of the sun shining through a window. The window was unfamiliar—chestnut panels with thin green drapes.
“You’re up!” the voice exclaimed. I turned my head and saw Kate.
The hope that my life in Kinsley had been a crazy dream disappeared. Everything was real—up to the ugly bird creature who’d captured my sister and tried to kill us in a cave that we’d entered through a shimmering rock-portal in the woods.
“Where am I?” I asked, the words scratchy in my throat. Remembering the water next to the bed, I reached for it and downed it in a few gulps.
“We’re at my house.” Kate dragged over a wooden chair and placed it next to the bed, sitting down to face me. “You passed out after giving the Book of Shadows to Chris. None of us had enough energy to go back the way we’d entered, so we tested our luck with the other shimmery portal in the chamber. It led us to the playground at the Hemlock Center. The place was trashed—like a gang war had broken out there or something.” She stopped to take a breath, and continued, “We called Darius, and he picked us up and brought us back to my car. You almost depleted your energy in the cave, but Darius said you needed time to naturally replenish it and you would be okay. So I brought you back here so you could sleep it off.”
I pushed myself up and leaned against the bedpost. “I feel better than what I last remember in the cave,” I said. “But what about Becca? Is she back, too? She must be freaking out. What did you all tell her?”
“Darius made her forget everything.” Kate’s voice was flat. “He brought her back to your house. He also made your parents think you had called to tell them you were sleeping at my house, and then he made them forget that he had been there at all.”
“He can do that?” I blinked a few times, shocked.
“Yes,” she said. “All of the Elders can. But they only tamper with memory if it’s an emergency.”
It sounded like a questionable practice, but I had other concerns right now. “How long have I been sleeping?” I asked.
“About thirteen or fourteen hours,” she said. “But you’re feeling better, right?”
“Not the greatest, but I’ll survive.” I brought my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “I feel more like I stayed up all night partying as opposed to healing three people—including myself—who were close to death, and staking a monster with a stalagmite.”
Kate pushed her hair behind her ears and laughed. “The others will want to know that you’re okay,” she said, serious again. “I’ll call them in a minute—do you want some more water?”
“Yes.” I nodded and licked my lips. My throat and tongue were still so dry that it felt like I could drink a bathtub full of water if she placed one in front of me. “Thanks.”
She walked out the door and gently shut it behind her, leaving me to reflect over everything that had happened. At least Darius had made Becca forget everything so I wouldn’t have to get her involved in all of this. But that creature had managed to get its hands on her, and there was no reason to believe that anything else that escaped Kerberos would be less merciful towards humans—especially the humans closest to their enemies.
I lowered my head to balance it on my knees. How was I supposed to be ready for this? The others had known about their powers for all of their lives. I’d just learned about mine a week and a half ago. Now I was expected to fight in an age-old battle with creatures that had far more experience than I could ever hope for. If the prophecy was right, and this is what I was supposed to do, then fate had a funny way of dealing with things. Because people are supposed to train for battle before entering it.
Apparently I wasn’t going to get that opportunity.
The door opened again, and I lifted my head, forcing a smile when I met Kate’s eyes. She carried another glass of water—this one bigger than the first. I grabbed it and gulped it down.
“Feeling better?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, placing the empty glass on the nightstand. “The water helped a lot. Thanks.”
“No problem.” She sat on the end of the bed and leaned against the wall, her legs straight in front of her so her feet hung over the edge. “I called Darius,” she said. “He said to come over to his house if you were feeling up to it. He’ll call the others, too. He wants to talk with us about the Book of Shadows. It was … well, he’ll explain when we get there.”
“Was there something wrong with the Book?” I asked.
“Darius just wants us all together to figure out what to do next,” she said. “From what the harpy told us, we’re going to have bigger challenges ahead than a treasure hunt for the Book of Shadows.”
“What did the stuff that the harpy said even mean?” I asked, trying to recall the specifics. “Something about a demigod and a typhon. Isn’t that some kind of giant wave?”
Kate looked down at the bed, chewing her bottom lip. “We should wait to get to Darius’s so he can explain. But first, you need to eat. My family was hungry and didn’t want to wake us before they went to brunch, so we can just have breakfast here.”
My stomach growled, and I stretched my arms, a rush of energy returning to my system. “I’m ready,”
I said. “We’ll have breakfast, and then we’ll head out.”
“Okay.” She studied me and pushed herself off the bed. “Remember to keep an open mind about what Darius is going to say. It might sound strange …” She paused and looked down at her hands. “Well, I’ll let you decide for yourself. Come on.”
CHAPTER FORTY
The front door to Darius’s house was unlocked, and I followed Kate into the great room. Darius sat in a red armchair, and Chris, Blake, and Danielle were on the matching couch. They watched me with relieved looks on their faces—even Danielle’s.
Chris jumped out of his seat before I had a chance to say hi. “Nicole!” he said, motioning me to join them. “Take my seat. I can sit on the floor.”
“Thanks.” I walked over to the couch, trying not to look at Blake as I sat down. His kissing me in the cave had changed everything, but I had no idea what it meant for us—if it meant anything to him at all. Because as far as I was aware, he still hadn’t broken up with Danielle. I needed to talk to him, without everyone else listening. But for now, I scooted as close to the side of the couch as possible, balancing my elbow on the armrest and trying not to look at him.
Chris sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table, the Book of Shadows placed on top of it. The leather cover was aged and ancient, and the yellowed paper wasn’t all the same length, making it look like one of the old novels in my grandfather’s library. However, the Book was bigger than a novel—it was closer to the size of a dictionary.
Blake’s eyes met mine, and I sucked in a breath at the intensity of his gaze. “I’m glad you’re doing better,” he said. “We were all worried about you back in the cave. I thought … well, I’m just glad that you’re okay.”
My skin tingled at the depth of concern in his voice. I would definitely have to figure out how to talk with him—alone—later. But for now I managed a small smile and turned back to Darius, who studied me with equal worry.
“Yes, we’re all glad you’re okay,” Darius said.
Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows Page 18
