“No. No way, Meredith. You’re not going to stay here and fight him. We’ll find another way to save Abby,” Blake said, his voice rising with each word. “I hoped that you would make the right decision and we could leave without arguing, but now I can see that’s not going to happen, so I’ll just have to tell you—there’s no way you’re staying here and fighting him. I won’t allow it.”
I turned to glare at him. “You won’t allow it? Blake, you are my protector. You’re supposed to protect me in whatever decision I make... not make my decisions for me.”
Blake’s face was full of anger. He looked like he was going to explode. He stood up and began to pace the room; mumbling and cussing under his breath. I’d never seen him so out of control. As angry as he looked, it was clear to see the hurt he held as well. It was almost too painful to look at, but I knew that I had to hold my ground.
Blake looked towards Collin. “What do you suggest?”
What did he suggest? This was my decision! Before Collin could answer, I spoke up and stared directly at Blake. “I suggest, Collin teaches me day and night, prepares me until I feel—” I paused for a moment. “Until we feel that I’m ready to fight. Listen, I don’t want this, either, but this is what has to be done; regardless of the outcome. I have to know that I stared my enemy in the face.”
I looked back toward Collin and he seemed to be pondering over what I had just said.
“Hey, you know, she may have a point. Meredith is strong. I’ve seen what she’s capable of and her abilities are promising. If she can get some more training in and we focus on some of the spells I’ve created, then we’ll have the element of surprise on our side. She just may have what it takes to beat him,” Collin said, looking at me with a sparkle in his eyes.
Blake took a few steps closer to Collin, stopping just a couple inches from him. “If she can’t and something happens to her, I’ll be coming after you first.”
Collin stared at Blake for a moment, swallowed hard, and then looked to me. “Well, it’s all up to you. Don’t let me down, okay? You sure you’re ready for this?”
I nodded. “Ready.”
That day, we huddled up at the top of the clock tower, laying out our plan. Collin had no idea what Jude was capable of or what spells he had in his repertoire, but Collin had a few unique spells of his own. It was difficult for my eyes not to wander to Abby’s body lying in the corner, wrapped in a blanket. I wished more than anything that she was here with me. Just seeing her lying there, though, gave me the courage and determination for what we were about to do.
We called it quits as the sun set. Collin and I agreed to begin training before the sun rose the next morning. Blake and Collin decided to sleep in shifts in case Jude was somehow able to locate our hiding place.
“Blake, if Jude does happen to find us, could he get in here?” I asked, mainly because I was concerned with the safety of Blake and Collin, not so much myself.
Blake shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about that. No dark magic can penetrate my protection spell. I may not be as powerful as you, but when it comes to my protection spell, no one can get through it.” He smiled and pulled me in to his chest.
Collin offered to take the first shift so Blake and I laid down to try and get some sleep. Even though I knew training would start soon, and as much as I knew that I needed to get some rest, I didn’t want to waste a moment sleeping when Blake was near me, not knowing how many more nights I would have with him.
“Blake,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“Are you mad at me for doing this? I don’t think I’ll be able to do this if I know you’re not on my side.”
He sighed and pulled me in even closer. “I’m mad at the situation. I’m mad that it’s come down to this and that it’s the only option we have left. I’m mad that my sister, who could be a lot of help right now, is lying wrapped up in a blanket, unconscious in the corner. But no, I’m not mad at you.” He paused, taking in a deep breath. “And just for the record—even when it doesn’t always seem like it and even though I don’t always agree with your decisions—when it comes down to it, I’m always on your side.”
I exhaled loudly at his words and turned on my side, coming face to face with him. “That makes me feel better, and I know the risk I’m taking. I know that, in a way, it’s probably stupid and it may cost me my life, but I feel like if I just run away from it, then I’m losing my life anyway.”
“I know.” Was all he said. Somewhere in listening to his heart beat and his slow, steady breaths, I fell asleep.
It seemed like only a few moments had passed when Collin was shaking me to wake up. Blake was standing in the corner looking out towards the city. I hadn’t even noticed when he got up to change shifts with Collin. The soft light in the sky told me it was just before dawn.
Collin and Blake had discussed where to train and were both in agreement that the old warehouse district was off limits; both of them thought we needed more of a secluded area, farther away from the city. Collin mentioned South Downs National Park, saying that it was over a hundred miles away but it was the safest option around. My stomach was in knots knowing that my flying skills would be tested to the limit. True, I had made a lot of progress the other day with Collin, but this... this would be pushing it.
Collin left first, surveying the area around the tower, making sure there wasn’t a threat before coming back to get me. It was annoying, but Blake had requested it. After all that I felt like I had put him through, I couldn’t deny him that one small thing.
When Collin returned, we took off from the top of the clock tower and were flying high above the city in a matter of seconds. My nerves were on edge and the anxiety of knowing the mileage we had to fly was beginning to get to me. Collin must have sensed it because he was right beside me the whole time, never more than a few inches from me. When we finally landed in the park, Collin was full of optimism.
“Wow, that was great, Meredith! You just flew over a hundred and twenty miles!”
Seriously? How could he be so positive at a time like this? “Thanks,” I said, trying to force a smile, but failing miserably at it. Even though that was a huge accomplishment for me, I just couldn’t be happy right now. Not with what we were facing and knowing that Abby, Jackie and Daniel were all still under spells.
Collin eyed me suspiciously. “Come on. You can’t do this to yourself. If you let yourself get down, then you will be buried with negativity and you might as well kiss the chance to beat Jude goodbye.”
I glared at him. What was he trying to do to me? I was already under enough pressure.
“Well, it’s the truth,” he said. “You have to be strong and confident in order to fight him... Your negativity will be your biggest weakness.”
I nodded, understanding what he was saying, but not knowing how to change my mood.
“Come on, let’s get started. Maybe once we get to work, you’ll loosen up a bit.”
We had been practicing for hours and so far, things had not gone very well. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. My mind was too distracted or something.
“Meredith! You need to concentrate harder. That was a very basic spell and you totally flopped! I know you’re more capable than that,” Collin shouted at me.
“Well, maybe if you quit yelling, I could concentrate more!” I yelled back. The building pressure causing me to snap.
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. “Come on, we both need a break.”
We sat in silence for a moment, neither of us having anything to say. Collin began to talk, but I wasn’t really paying attention; my mind was too focused on our current situation. Last night, I felt so confident and sure of myself. For some reason now, however, I was beginning to doubt my skills. It was hard to accept that if I failed Abby would never wake up and the other people under Jude’s spell would never get out, either. They were all counting on me and as much as I wanted to be strong and defeat Jude, I wasn’t sure if I could,
no matter how much I learned. The challenge of what we were facing seemed like a daunting task.
Collin had been talking for some time now without me paying much attention, but something he said caught my interest and I listened closer to his words.
“It’s just a shame isn’t it? That poor defenseless Astoria. He or she probably never saw it coming. I’m sure he preyed on them, waited until they were all alone and defenseless, then BOOM! Killed ‘em.”
I turned to glare at him. “That’s awful, Collin. Why would you bring that up at a time like this?”
“I just can’t get it out of my head. I mean, Jude kidnapped Abby, put a spell on my father, Jackie and countless others, and of course, the worst part—he killed an innocent Astoria just to take their power. What a coward, it’s just a shame that he may get away with it all.”
My anger began to boil over as Collin talked about the things that Jude had done. The last sentence he said really hit home, making me realize that no matter what, I would fight him with everything I had inside me. I glanced over to my right and noticed that Collin was staring at me.
“What?” I snapped at him. My anger wasn’t directed at Collin, but I was still fuming over the things he had said.
He shook his head and looked as if he were amused by my anger.
A small grin spread across my lips. “Okay, I get it. You just said all those things on purpose, hoping to give me some determination, am I right?”
“Depends. Is it working?” he asked, looking out of the corner of his eyes, his expression hopeful.
I laughed and shook my head. “Yes, it’s working.”
“Good! We’re going to channel that anger just like we channeled your fear for flying. Now, let’s start this again.” Standing up, he looked back and smiled at me with a wicked grin.
We started to train again, but the mood was different. I was more focused and Collin was full of determination.
“Okay, there’s one main thing he has going for him,” Collin said. “His experience. He’s been a witch for about as long as you’ve been alive.”
I stared at him, my eyes wide, mouth gaping. Was that supposed to make me feel better?
“But,” Collin continued, “you have the best teacher around. Which reminds me, I expect a huge thank you when this is all over with and you’ve kicked his ass.”
Collin and I spent the rest of the day perfecting the energy transfer spell. We agreed that it would be the best spell to use against Jude. He wouldn’t be expecting it and it could buy me some time if I needed it. When we had practiced this spell back at the warehouse, we had only used an apple. Now, it was time to step it up and focus on larger things—like me for instance.
“Okay, so this is a little different, of course,” Collin said. “It’s still the same principle, in terms of pulling the energy and dividing it into two forms, but it’s more difficult because you won’t have an actual item to focus on, you have to pull the energy from within yourself. Do you remember what we went over the other day in the warehouse?”
I nodded and closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath and trying to find my energy. I knew I had it of course, but visualizing it and dividing it into two forms would be challenging. After a few seconds, I blew out a long frustrated breath and opened my eyes. “I’m just not getting it.”
Collin took a couple steps towards me and grabbed my shoulders. “Come on, you need to focus. I know it’s hard, but I know you have it in you to do this. Just close your eyes.”
I closed them.
“Okay, with the apple you were able to visualize it, but now, since you are transferring the energy from yourself to another form of yourself; it’s more difficult because you have to focus on you.” He laughed at his confusing words and probably the face I was making. “Focus and pull the energy from every inch of your body and bring it to your core. Visualize it and put it into a make believe compartment so you can see it.” He paused. “Let’s say a ball. When you’ve pulled your energy and placed it into the ball, split the ball into two halves.” His voice faded away as I concentrated and forced all my energy into one section of my body... and I saw it there, an orange ball of energy. Slowly, without breaking my focus, I visualized the ball splitting in half.
When I opened my eyes, I realized that I had done it. I saw the back of Collin, still holding onto the shoulders of my other form. I took a couple steps forward and tapped Collin on the shoulder. He whipped around and his eyes grew large when he saw me.
“You’ve done it!” he shouted.
“This is so cool,” I said, looking forward to my form that was as still as a statue and then back to Collin.
“Meredith, it’s so much better than cool. This is... this is freaking amazing! It took me weeks to do what you just did. I had faith in you, but I’ve got to say that I wasn’t sure you’d be able to pull this one off.”
“Hey.” I punched him in the arm. “I thought you believed in me.”
He shrugged. “I did, but I still can’t believe you did it so quick.”
I smiled and felt proud. By the way Collin was reacting; I was convinced that what I had just done was pretty awesome. “Okay,” I said, trying to keep focused on our goal. “How do I join back with my other form? I want to practice this over and over until I can do it without thinking about it too much.”
“Simple. Just break the connection and don’t focus on keeping that energy divided and your forms will join again.”
I dropped the image of the split ball I had in my mind and just like that, my two forms were back to one.
Within a few more hours of practice, I was able to transfer my energy and create my two forms with no problems at all, but it didn’t come without a price.
“Okay,” I breathed heavy. “I think I’ve got it down. My body feels like it has been hit by a truck—actually make that about a hundred trucks... all filled with concrete.”
Collin frowned. “Yeah, unfortunately, transferring your energy into two forms will drain you a lot quicker than just practicing regular magic. Oh, and there’s one more thing you should know. If something happens to one form, say like an injury or something, then the exact same thing will happen to the second form.”
“Great, thanks.” My tone was mocking.
By the time we returned to the clock tower; it was well after dark. I was looking forward to seeing Blake and allowing my body to rest and recover from the day.
The second we entered the large room, I knew something was wrong. Blake was holding Abby in his arms and the look on his face sent a bolt of terror through me.
“Blake, what’s wrong?” I asked, running and falling to my knees beside them.
“I’m not sure exactly. This morning she was fine, but shortly after you left, she began to shake and her breathing became shallow. It has slowly gotten worse. Now, I can hardly tell if she’s breathing at all.”
“But she’s still breathing?” I asked, my voice breaking on the last word.
“Barely... but she’s getting worse by the second,” he answered, never taking his eyes off her.
“Collin.” I turned to look up at him. “Do you have any idea what’s happening?”
He nodded his head. “I think so.”
“Well?” I asked, my tone impatient.
“He’s—he’s killing her. The spell he has her under... he must have a link to her physical form somehow.”
I looked back to Blake and saw the color drain from his face. My heart hammered against my chest and I tried to think of something to do, but deep down I knew there was only one thing to do. I had to fight Jude. Now. Tonight. If we waited another day or two, Abby may not make it.
“Collin,” I said, swallowing hard. “We need to find Jude. Can you perform a tracer spell on him to see where he is?” I had never actually performed a tracer spell before, but had seen Abby do it once, just to show me how it worked. Blake met my gaze, but I immediately looked away and back towards Collin.
Collin sat down and pulled out a map, a
needle and a piece of string from his bag. “I’ll try. He could block his location if he wanted to, but on the other hand, he may be doing this to Abby on purpose. He may be forcing you to come to him.” It wasn’t long before the needle moved towards a familiar area. Collin looked down at the map and then over to me. “He’s at the old hardware building.”
I nodded once and glanced back to Blake. It killed me to see the struggle in his eyes. Even though he and his sister fought and argued more than any two people I had ever met, I knew they loved each other dearly. Now, as Blake held his sister in his arms, I knew that he would do whatever he could to save her. I just don’t think he ever imagined that doing so would be putting my life in danger.
“We should get going.” I glanced over at Collin.
“Meredith, I think you should rest for just a little while,” Collin said. “You preformed some intense magic today and I think your body needs to recover.”
I shook my head. “There’s no time.”
I scooted over to Abby and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before meeting Blake’s gaze. “Don’t worry,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I’m coming back. I’m going to beat him for Abby, Jackie, Daniel, and whoever else he has under his spell.”
“Meredith,” Blake began, but then he looked away from me and down at his sister. “I want to come with you. I don’t think I can let you fight him without protection. Abby would want me to be with you.”
“No, you need to stay here and take care of Abby. She needs you more than I do right now. I’ll have Collin with me.”
He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly before opening them again; his gaze was tortured. “Please be careful and take care of yourself.”
His eyes met mine as I leaned in and pressed my lips softly to his, trying to remember how they felt against mine; hoping that this wasn’t the last time I would feel them. Pulling back, I looked at him once more before standing up to leave.
Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) Page 15
