[Willow Harbor 06.0] Warlock's Embrace

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  I tried to speak, but I couldn’t. I tried to open my eyes, and that didn’t work either. I tried to move, but I didn’t even know where my limbs were. I felt nothing. No cold, no heat. No wind or water.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Mattie’s voice wasn’t quite as close, and it was full of fear.

  “Everyone move!” A new voice, one I remembered from sometime long ago came into hearing. “Give her space.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Cad’s voice rose into near anger. If Cad was close why wasn’t he touching me? Why couldn’t I feel anything?

  Cad. I wanted to scream. I needed him. I needed his touch. Why wasn’t he holding me? Even if he was with Bridget he would take care of me. He always had.

  “I didn’t mean you.” The vaguely familiar voice added. “But we can’t crowd her.”

  “Good.” Cad’s voice was harsh, but I knew it wasn’t directed toward me. “Because I’m not leaving her side again.”

  “Someone please tell me what’s going on.” Mattie sighed. “This is insane.”

  “We would tell you if we knew it ourselves,” Pierce assured her.

  “Why did you even let her do it?” Anger was still ripe in Cad’s voice. “You are supposed to be her friends.”

  “We are her friends!” Mattie yelled. “Don’t you dare push this on us. You know Delpha is going to do what she wants to do. There’s nothing in the world that’s going to stop her!”

  The vaguely familiar voice returned. “Just like her mother.”

  My mother? Who was he to know my mother? That thought logically led to other thoughts. Why was she crying? Why had she warned me to leave? Did she knew what was going to happen?

  “Maybe she’s in a state of shock.” Mattie’s voice was closer now, and I imagined she was sitting beside me. “Could that be it? Shouldn’t we take her to a doctor?”

  “One’s coming.” Cad sighed. “I called Lake at the clinic.”

  “Cad, has her mark always looked like this?” another male voice asked.

  I wanted to know who it was. Was I still near the ocean? On the beach maybe? Why was it I could hear so well, yet none of my other senses worked?

  “No,” Cad spoke wistfully. “It was always blue and green.”

  “What color is it now?” The familiar voice asked.

  And then it hit me. I did know the voice. Dad?

  “Black…” Cad replied.

  I’d barely registered that my father might be sitting within inches of me when Cad had to throw that one in? Black? How could the birthmark I’d had my entire life suddenly turn black?

  “And that’s new too,” Cad continued.

  “What does that mean? Is it a symbol?” Pierce sounded closer now too. I really hoped I was appropriately covered with this many men around. Then I realized that was a silly worry. Cad would be as alarmed as I was. It was strange that with so much up in the air, I knew that. I knew he’d have my back.

  “Is your mom around?” The man who sounded so much like my father that I now couldn’t imagine it was anyone else asked.

  “She should be,” Pierce replied.

  So he was asking about Vicky.

  “She closed the library today though. I’m assuming she’s around town somewhere.” Mattie brought up a good point. Vicky had acted so strangely that morning. Did that somehow tie in with all of this? Because she was a true sensitive, she usually knew what was coming. Had she predicted this? I shook off that idea. She wouldn’t have let me walk into this blindly. Even if she knew something was up, she didn’t know all the specifics.

  “And you didn’t mention this to me?” Pierce was further away now.

  I wanted to yell at him for snapping at Mattie like that. She’d had plenty going on.

  “We’ve had a lot going on.” Mattie said exactly what I was thinking. I smiled to myself. Maybe I needed to stop worrying about her so much.

  “We need to find Vicky,” my dad muttered. “We need to find her now.”

  “Do you think she’ll be able to help, M.P?” Pierce asked.

  M.P? I only knew one person by that name, and he’d left town years before.

  “There has to be a significance to the change in her mark and that symbol. If anyone can figure out what the symbol is, Vicky can do it.” The only unidentified voice, which must have belonged to M.P., answered. “She knows more about these sorts of things than anyone else I know.”

  “We need to wait for the doctor.” Mattie was real close again.

  “We won’t need to wait long,” Cad replied.

  I heard the sound of crunching sand.

  “What happened?” A new voice asked.

  “She went under to look for her mom and didn’t come back. Cad pulled her up like this,” Mattie explained to who I assumed had to be a doctor or someone from the clinic.

  “Her vitals are good.” The doctor spoke to someone, I had no idea who was really in charge of me and my position at that time. “Delpha? Can you hear me?”

  “She hasn’t spoken, and she isn’t responding to any touch.” Cad sighed. “Do you know what it is?”

  “Has she opened her eyes at all?” The doctor asked.

  “No. Not at all,” Mattie quickly explained.

  “They were open when I first found her.” Cad spoke quietly. “But by the time we got to the sand they had closed.”

  “You had better not have hurt her!” My father yelled.

  “I didn’t.” Cad’s voice shook. He was trying to control his anger. I knew all of his little tells. “If I hadn’t found her, who knows what would have happened.”

  “He’s right!” Mattie shouted. “He saved her.”

  “Saved her? She’s a vegetable.”

  “No she isn’t. She’s going to be fine.” Mattie’s voice quivered. “You guys are supernatural. You can do anything.”

  “I appreciate your confidence in our medical skills.” The doctor was evidently still there.

  “I didn’t mean you in particular. I meant this group as a whole,” Mattie explained.

  “Let’s go to the library. If Vicky can help, there’s no time to waste.” Cad’s voice had leveled out. And he was taking charge. That was a good thing for me.

  “I’ve got you,” Cad assured me.

  I wanted to feel. I wanted to know I was in Cad’s arms, but my only working sense was hearing. I suppose I should have been grateful for that, but I was terrified and needed to know my other senses would come back. The only good thing was I couldn’t hurt people in my condition. At least I had that. And I had Cad. One of these days I’d stop taking him for granted.

  Twelve

  Cad

  I’d never run to the library in such desperation before. I’d been inside the grand building countless times throughout my life, and in recent years it was almost always to see Delpha. She’d been working there since high school, and in some ways, even before she moved into the apartment above, it was a second home to her.

  Vicky was like family to Delpha, and I hoped M.P. and Billy were right that she’d be able to help. I had no other ideas and giving up wasn’t an option. I never liked having to rely on others, but with no leads of my own, I had no other choice.

  I cradled Delpha in my arms as I waited for Mattie to unlock the front doors of the library. I watched Delpha’s face, half expecting her eyes to open up any minute and for her to make a joke about me carrying her over the threshold, but her eyes stayed close as I carried her inside. And they remained closed when Vicky ran out of her office. Thankfully her even breathing reminded me that there was hope.

  “What took you so long?” Vicky took Delpha’s limp hand in hers. “Pierce called ten minutes ago!”

  “We were a ways down the beach. We got here as quickly as we could,” M.P. explained. “Good to see you, Vicky, even if I wish it was under better circumstances.”

  “We can catch up later. Mattie, go upstairs and get some blankets and pillows. We will set up a makeshift bed in the children’s section. That
’s the best rug we have down here.” Vicky quickly took charge. That didn’t necessarily mean she knew what she was doing, but I was going to let it give me some hope.

  “On my way.” Mattie darted upstairs, presumably to grab stuff from the apartment.

  “I need to know everything.” Vicky met my eyes. “Everything about what happened.”

  “Did Pierce tell you what happened before I got there?” We didn’t have time to waste retelling the story.

  “Yes. She went into the water. What I need to know is what you found when you got there.”

  Mattie returned out of breath a few minutes later. She and Pierce got to work laying out the blankets and pillows to make a comfortable place. I laid Delpha down carefully. I knelt by her side, and Vicky knelt on the other. “Cad, you have to give me space.”

  “I’m not leaving her.”

  “Did I suggest you leave? No. I told you to give me space. That’s something entirely different. And keep talking. I need to know.”

  I scooted back some. “I dove under and saw a black shadow nearly on top of her. I didn’t think, I just grabbed hold of her. I had to tug hard, but I don’t think that’s what caused this.” At least I hoped it wasn’t. I’d never forgive myself if that was the case.

  “It wasn’t the tug.” Vicky’s attention moved immediately to Delpha’s mark. “She’s been marked by a dark one. That’s the shadow you saw.”

  “A dark one?” I clarified.

  “Yes.” Vicky ran her fingers over the black mark. The beautiful blue and green colors were nowhere to be seen underneath the black markings.

  “That’s what they are called?” Mattie asked.

  “They don’t have another name because they have rarely been mentioned outside of mythology. Dark ones must be awakened by magic.” Vicky removed her hand from the mark. “Mattie, I need you to go downstairs into the locked cases in the mythology room. Take M.P. with you and find all the volumes on sea legends, Greek or Roman.” She pulled a chain from around her neck where a single key hung. “And make it quick.”

  Mattie accepted the key, and she and M.P. ran off. When all of this was over, I’d make sure Delpha realized how great a friend Mattie really was to her.

  “How long ago did this happen?” Vicky looked directly at me.

  “She’d been out of the water thirty minutes.” Thirty agonizing minutes.

  “And she was only down there thirty or so before that,” Pierce added. “She’s gone down for long periods of time before. I didn’t know.”

  “Would you two stop blaming yourselves!” Vicky wrung her hands. “I’m asking because that dark mark is fully set. I’d have thought we’d have more time, but I’ve never observed anything like this before.”

  “What is the symbol on top of the mark exactly?” I tried to keep my head cleared. Losing it now wouldn’t help Delpha.

  “I don’t know.” Vicky ran her fingers over it again. “That’s why I need the books.”

  “But you recognized it?” I pressed.

  “I recognized the change. Delpha has worked for me for years. She loves tank tops and spaghetti strap dresses. You don’t think I know her natural Oceanid markings?”

  “I wasn’t implying—” I tried to back myself out of the corner. Getting on Vicky’s bad side was never a good idea. Let alone when you needed her help.

  “It’s the blackness of it. It only came from one place.” Vicky stood. “Watch her, Cad. I need to have a word with Billy.”

  I observed Vicky’s change in demeanor and realized she too was feeling guilty. But why? She’d always been there for Delpha; I could hardly imagine she’d had anything to do with the mess Delpha was in.

  Vicky stood and walked out of the children’s section. Billy followed, clearly dazed. He’d said little outside of his angry outbursts at me. Any other time and I would have had choice words for him, but right now only one thing mattered. Getting Delpha to wake up. I’d never been so single-mindedly focused and desperate for anything in my life.

  I stayed close to Delpha’s side, but I could hear Vicky and Billy’s conversation well enough. And I could hear the sound of a well-placed slap.

  “Was that necessary?” Billy groaned.

  “Yes. I should be doing worse.” There was no remorse in Vicky’s voice. “And you know it.”

  “Why do you care?”

  “Why do I care? You left them. You left them here alone.” Vicky’s voice rose an octave.

  “I was protecting them.”

  “Protecting them?” She yelled. “Is that what you call leaving them here defenseless? And what good did that do?. Vanessa was one thing, but Delpha? She’s like a daughter to me.”

  “I’m glad she had you.” Billy’s voice was soft. Defeated.

  Another slap. “She should have had you. And she should have her mother. It’s your fault Vanessa left. This is all your fault.”

  “She didn’t leave willingly,” Billy’s voice dropped even more. “I know that even if I don’t know anything else. I’ve made many mistakes in my life but leaving wasn’t one of them. Vanessa understood. Delpha would have if she’d been older.”

  “No kidding she didn’t leave willingly. She would never have left Delpha unless she had to.” Vicky showed no signs of calming down. “You think I don’t know that?”

  “Unless she had to?”

  “Yes. There are different kinds of unwillingness. I don’t believe someone forced her to do it. She did it because she didn’t think she had another choice.”

  “Wait, what?” I didn’t want to leave Delpha’s side, but I wanted answers. “What are you talking about?”

  They walked back in. Vicky returned to her spot on the floor beside Delpha. “I think Vanessa gave herself instead of Delpha. She must have known someone would come for her. But clearly her sacrifice didn’t work.”

  “But I thought you said you needed magic to awaken one.” At least that’s what Vicky had said less than five minutes before. With no information of my own, I was relying on her intel.

  Vicky brushed Delpha’s hair over to the side. “Delpha’s very birth may have been enough.”

  “But this timeline doesn’t make sense. It took fourteen years for Vanessa to try to give herself instead?” I tried to follow. “Why would she wait that long?”

  “Cad?” Billy’s voice was quiet. “When did you and my daughter start dating? Was it around then?”

  “Yes.” I was done using sir. The situation had entirely changed. “It was right before that.” Delpha never let either of us forget that. “You think that’s part of it?”

  He nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I bet Vanessa thought Delpha would be safe with you. That she would be loved because she had you.”

  “But she was fourteen.” Mattie walked further into the room. She and M.P. were both holding towering piles of books. “I mean, sure they could have been close, but that’s too young to know two people would be together.”

  “You say that now, even after finding Pierce?” Vicky took the pile of books from Mattie. “You know first hand how quickly intense relationships can form.”

  “Yes, of course, but we were adults when we met. Fourteen is really young.”

  “And you honestly think things would have been different had you met Pierce at fourteen?” Vicky fixed Mattie a piercing stare.

  “I guess I’ll never know.” Mattie shrugged.

  “You do know, but this isn’t the time or place for that argument.” Vicky pulled her gaze from Mattie. “I hope everyone is ready to get their hands dirty.”

  “Of course.” I would do anything it took, the least of which would be dealing with old books.

  We set up around Delpha, flipping through the dusty, and often dirty, volumes of mythology. As I moved through the pages I kept glancing at Delpha, waiting for her to wake up on her own and make this research unnecessary. But there was no change. Her eyelids were closed tight, and it was only her slow and even breathing that reassured me she was going to be o
kay.

  “We are searching for any mention of dark ones?” Mattie asked for clarification. She’d evidently dropped her argument about young love. “Any other key words?”

  “Dark marks. Anything along those lines.” Vicky didn’t look up from the book on her lap. “And Pierce, you better be reading.”

  “Of course I’m reading,” Pierce mumbled without setting aside the large grey book he balanced in his hands.

  I searched through the large volume on my lap, trying to find a balance between reading fast enough we didn’t waste time, yet not skipping over anything important. Unfortunately these texts had no index, making it necessary to skim through each chapter.

  “This probably isn’t a good time to bring this up, but this is why we need to digitalize the collection. It would make things like this move faster.” Mattie set down her book.

  “Mattie, read. Now.”

  “Of course, sorry.” Mattie returned to her book.

  The seconds became minutes, the minutes became hours, and no one found anything. I was close to losing it when a loud noise signaled the arrival of two newcomers to the library.

  “Pax?” I jumped when I realized it was him walking in with Jackson beside him.

  “Before you say anything, hear me out.” Pax wasn’t trying to keep me calm. It was Billy who was halfway over to him that was probably his issue. “I caught him trying to break into Cad’s house.” Pax held his hands out in front of him. “I’m not saying I believe him, but I think everyone needs to listen to what he has to say.”

  “I swear I never meant to hurt anyone. I’m back here to help.” Jackson looked around the room wildly as if trying to decide who he should be most specifically addressing.

  “You aren’t here to help.” Billy swung a punch.

  Jackson caught Billy’s fist before it could make contact. “I don’t want to fight with you. I’m here to help. I’m not saying I’m innocent on all accounts.”

  “Then speak.” I reluctantly stood only after making sure Mattie was going to stay at Delpha’s side. I knew the likelihood of her waking up on her own was slim to none, but if anything changed, I refused for her to wake up alone. “If you have something to say that’s going to help, say it.”