by Cherie Marks
As a result, I’d been feeling completely nauseous since the beginning of the week. I supposed the anxiety of what was to come was upsetting my stomach. Even now, I exited the staff bathroom after having puked my guts out, followed by a good tooth brushing to get the taste out of my mouth. I never left the house without it nowadays. I hoped I wasn’t coming down with something. Thank Goddess it was Friday.
“Being preggers totally sucks, doesn’t it?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin as I turned and spotted Celia just a couple feet down the hall.
“No. I’m not pregnant. Just anxious about…a test…coming up. You know, because of the bad…evaluation.”
“Look, Evie, for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry for how things turned out. But there’s something you should know. Dane Calvin isn’t being completely honest with you. You need to ask him if you’re going to live through tomorrow night.”
“What do you know about tomorrow night?”
A look of pity covered her features. “I know that Baba Yaga and Dane Calvin have big plans for you and have from the beginning. They’re not being upfront with you about your role in the battle tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t go into details here. Meet me in front of the school at midnight tonight. You need to know the truth.” She shook her head hard and turned to walk back toward her classroom on the other side of the building. I wanted to stop her, but my feet felt frozen in place as her words sunk in. All those sad looks when he didn’t know I was looking, the hints he kept dropping that we should just run, the vague instructions about tomorrow night—I’d dismissed all my concerns, believing Dane had my best interest at heart. What if he didn’t? Why exactly should I trust him blindly or Baba Yaga, for that matter?
For the first time, I doubted so many of the things that he’d told me. I put a hand onto my stomach and looked down. Was I pregnant? He’d tried to convince me he was shooting blanks, but what if he’d lied? And like the naïve witch I was, I’d believed him.
The rest of the day was a blur as I ruminated over Celia’s words. I taught my classes on rote and made it through without confronting Dane, even when I saw him in the hallway halfway through the day. I needed answers, but I didn’t dare risk a scene. At our next training session I planned to get the answers I wanted.
* * *
I was waiting for him when he walked into the room. My arms crossed, I sat stone-faced as he strolled in, seemingly not a care in the world.
“You’re dressed. That’s…unusual. Everything okay, Evie?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“What? Are you sure?” Why was he frickin’ grinning?
“Totally. I went to the drugstore during planning period today and got three pregnancy tests. Plus signs all around. What happened to your sterility?”
“But this is good news!”
My lips parted. Was he serious right now? “No, it’s not Dane. How can you think so when I’m supposed to put my life in danger tomorrow night?”
“Trust me, this is a good thing.”
I noticed he didn’t argue with the life in danger part, which led me to my next question. “Was the plan ever for me to live through tomorrow night?”
He had the decency to look slightly remorseful before dropping his gaze to the floor. What worried me most though was how long it took him to actually give me an answer. I got the feeling he was trying out the next lie in his head, and I just didn’t want to hear what he had to say.
“Evie, as the last surviving Hale witch, there was a chance that, like your mother, you’d have to sacrifice your life to save the rest of the world. Of course, I didn’t want you to die. I’ve been trying to find a way that that isn’t the outcome.”
“Are you saying my mother let herself be killed?”
He nodded solemnly. “She knew she had to in order to protect you.”
The realization of my mother’s sacrifice sunk in…hard. In a bittersweet turn of events, though I’d always blamed myself for my mother’s death, I finally understood that she could’ve saved herself. I was still the reason she’d chosen not to, but I hadn’t caused her death directly when I’d allowed Maggie to drop on the platform with her. For years, I’d told myself that my wicked magic had led to my mother’s demise. Now, Dane was finally making so much of the uncertainty of my past clear to me.
“It’s why you asked me to run away with you, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t want it to be like this.”
“Dane, you should have told me the whole story. You should’ve let me make my own decisions about this. What if I didn’t want to sacrifice my life for everyone else?”
“Then, Baba Yaga would’ve locked you up until tomorrow night. Only in that scenario, you wouldn’t have been ready for anything. I begged for the chance to train you. To give you a fighting chance.”
I shook my head at him. This was unbelievable. How stupid I’d been! “Do you really expect me to believe you had my best interests at heart? You frickin’ knocked me up and then tried to tell me you were sterile! You must think I’m the biggest idiot who ever lived. Well, just so we’re clear, there will be no shotgun wedding. For one thing, I don’t have a dad, and for another, I wouldn’t have you if you begged me.”
I stood up and held my breath, part of me hoping that despite my words, he’d beg me anyway. But when he didn’t say anything, I couldn’t wait around anymore. I was getting more and more angry with his pitiful explanation for why he had kept the whole truth from me this entire time. I didn’t plan to become anyone’s martyr, but I was even more tired of being somebody’s fool.
He didn’t even try to stop me as I brushed by him. Instead, he turned and watched me as I marched to the door. Before I left though, he called, “Never thought you were an idiot. And, for the record, the baby is a good thing. It’s exactly what we needed.”
If I wasn’t so irate, I might have laughed at the nonsense he was spouting. So, now not only was I going to die, but now I was going to take the developing baby inside me with me. How could that be a good thing? How could it be what anyone needed?
As I crossed the parking lot to my car, I held a tight grip on my emotions, threatening to burst free. But the minute I was in the car, I dissolved into wracking sobs. I let the tears fall unchecked and worked hard to catch my breath. I’d lost everything at this point.
My mother was gone. Clooney was gone. Celia and my other friends were gone. The pain in my chest deepened. Dane was gone. And now my own life was in jeopardy. What was I supposed to do now? Where did I go from here?
The worst part was, even as hard as my head tried to convince my heart that Dane was bad for us, I still loved him, and it hurt so badly he obviously didn’t feel the same.
I cleaned myself up enough to make it home and ugly-cried for a good twenty minutes sitting in the driveway. Once I’d cried myself out, I stepped out of the car and put protections around the entire house. These would keep even Dane out. I knew what I was going to do now.
I’d meet Celia at midnight, and with her help, I’d find a way to get myself out of this mess. Somehow, my baby and I would find somewhere far from here to hide out until either things blew over or the world ended. Either way, things would be settled, and I’d put the broken pieces of my heart back together without Dane or any of the events of the past two months messing anything else up.
Chapter 14
The minute I stepped out of the car, I knew something was up. Celia stood in the bus lane in front of the school. Yet, as I approached, I noticed someone in the shadows behind her. She wasn’t alone, and I recognized the person with her all too well.
I stopped walking toward her and called out, “Celia?”
But she didn’t answer, just stood unmoving, unblinking, and more than likely, unaware.
Karrena strode out of the darkness and stood beside Celia. “So good to see you, Evie.” Her voice hadn’t changed as it tinkled with her greeting.
“Wish I c
ould say the same. What have you done to my friend?”
“You’ve probably noticed she hasn’t been herself lately. She’s been under my influence.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I knew it! You turned my friends against me.”
“It was the only way to make you feel miserable enough to want to leave here. I’d hoped it would force you to run again. If only you had.”
My fingers itched to begin pulling magic to the surface. I wanted to just wipe Karrena from my life forever, but I was too afraid of what might happen to Celia if I did. “If I had left, I’m sure you would’ve come after me and found more ways to bring me pain.”
“Oh, my dear, if that were the worst possible scenario, you’d be thankful for the pain I gave you. Instead, you’ve brought yourself the kind of pain that isn’t just excruciating. It’s life ending.” Her music-box voice was really starting to grate on my last nerve.
“Why don’t you just let Celia go? She isn’t even a part of this and doesn’t deserve to be used so cruelly.”
“Fine.” She snapped her fingers, and Celia seemed to wake up in an instant.
“What the…?” She looked up at me, her eyes muddled. “Evie, what is going on?”
I stepped toward her, but Karrena held up her hand and I stopped, afraid she’d hurt Celia. I called out to her, “Celia, go inside the school building and call Liz to come get you. Go home.”
She glanced warily at Karrena standing beside her. She seemed completely surprised to see her there. With concern wrinkling her brow, she asked, “What about you, Evie? What are you going to do?”
“She’s going to come with me, aren’t you, Evie?”
“And if I don’t?”
Karrena raised her hand behind Celia’s head threateningly, and I immediately lowered my hands to hang beside me docilely.
“Okay! I’ll come with you, but let Celia go forever. Don’t use her or any of the others ever again.”
Lowering her hand, she smiled an evil grin and in her little girl’s voice, said, “Of course.” She turned toward Celia. “Run away, little human! Go now unless you want to be turned into another mindless minion.”
Celia’s terrified eyes looked up at me, and I nodded. She stumbled backward a few steps before she turned and ran toward the school building. She pulled her keycard out and slipped inside. I sighed in relief that she was no longer under Karrena’s spell.
“Now, Evie, the time has come to get you ready for your big night. Tomorrow night will be here before you know it, and we have so much to do to prepare.”
“What do you know about tomorrow night? How are you involved?”
She tsked at me, seemingly disappointed I hadn’t put clues together to figure everything out. “Surely you know by now that I didn’t save your life when you were a child out of the goodness of my heart? I’d hoped to keep you from turning wicked like your mother, but when you ran away from me, it became obvious I’d failed. Now, there’s only one way to make people turn away from evil and that’s to let them see what happens when you reject the forces of good.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“Oh, you will. Don’t worry, like everyone else, once it’s too late, you’ll understand all too well why wickedness leads us down a dangerous path, and only the good beings of the world should be in charge.”
I started to tell her I thought she was an eight-ball short of a game of pool when the corners of my vision began to blacken. Nausea overwhelmed me, and I went to my knees with sudden weakness. When I looked up, through my hazy sight, I saw her looming over me, two blurry figures standing behind her.
“I can’t wait to have her powers finally. After all these years, they will be mine.”
“Jethro, you’re too damn greedy. Means to an end, remember?”
Not fair! I recognized those voices, and even as I wanted to gather my magic to destroy the people who’d destroyed my life, everything went black and I felt the hard concrete scrape my cheek as I began losing consciousness and hit the ground. My last thought was of Dane. Leave it to my stupid heart to bring that big jerk into this. But that’s what happened when, against all common sense, you loved someone.
Chapter 15
As I regained consciousness and became aware of my surroundings, two things occurred to me. One—my hands were tied behind me. And two—I was way above the ground on a wooden platform. I was tied to a wooden post, just like my mother had been twenty years ago. And just as before, a group of people, including the weird guy from the Cajun restaurant, stood in the clearing below me with Maggie and Karrena at the front. I didn’t immediately see Jethro, but I knew he was nearby. Probably waiting to make a dramatic entrance.
On cue, he emerged from the forest and wore a grin that showed all his teeth. Creepy didn’t even begin to describe the look, especially when combined with his wide, glassy eyes.
“Evelina Hale, you’ve been accused of practicing witchcraft! You have followed in your mother’s footsteps and become so very, very wicked.”
My pounding head felt full of cotton, but I lifted my gaze to meet his. Nervous laughter bubbled out and ended in the witchiest cackle I could muster. If he wanted wicked, I’d give him wicked. I began to conjure the air to move with wind, but it was a strain to even push the air around in the clearing. Clearly, they’d bound my powers somehow, and I wouldn’t have the full faculty of my magic. So much about my mother’s demise was becoming more and more clear.
“Wicked is as wicked does, Jethro! How many witches’ lives and powers have you taken? I’ve taken none. Who’s the wicked one now?”
This created a little unrest in the crowd, but no one seemed brave enough to step out against the group and put an end to this insanity.
“You might not have harmed anyone yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Your own mother took my son, Cal, from me, and who knows how many others felt her evil.”
There was a sudden commotion at the back of the gathering, and everyone turned to stare at the person who threw off the hood of his sweatshirt and shouted, “I was lost to you long before Oriona saved me, sir.” The epithet of respect sounded more like an insult than a show of deference to an authority. The bitterness was thick.
The breath rushed from my lungs at the sight of Dane rushing toward the platform.
“Cal? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to save the one woman who was meant for me and me alone.”
Confusion filled the crowd as realization began to sink in. Dane was Jethro’s son? But, Jethro had said his son’s life was taken by my mother. My brain hurt even trying to think about what was going on.
Dane climbed up the platform and began untying my hands.
“Cal, you can’t do that. She must die! Her wickedness brings the forces of evil here even now!”
The sky began to darken and the air grew almost smothering in its thickness, like an invisible fog moving in without mercy.
Dane hugged me tightly to him and met my baffled gaze. “Your mother saved my life many years ago. I wanted to tell you, but Baba Yaga forbade it, afraid you’d figure things out and run. I didn’t want to jeopardize losing you or losing the chance to prepare you for today.”
He grabbed my hand and turned to get us down from the platform but stopped, pushing me behind him protectively. I peeked over his shoulder and saw Maggie and Karrena standing on the platform with us. In her hand, Maggie had the same long knife she’d used to kill my mother. Her intent was clear.
“Put her back, Cal! She’s a means to an end. He won’t come unless she’s here.”
Karrena’s expression settled into heavy pity. “I tried to save you from the wickedness, Evie. I didn’t want this for you. Now, we have no choice.”
“They’re all crazy!”
Dane nodded in agreement. “See what your mother saved me from.”
It occurred to me that this was finally what Dane had trained me for. I needed to step up and put an end to this, using my magic. I straightened and pu
shed myself around him, but he quickly pushed me back.
“Isn’t this the time to take action? Do what you taught me to do?”
“No. Not yet. I need to stall for time.”
Maggie moved toward us, but Dane held up his hand. “Maggie, don’t do this. She’s pregnant. You’ll take an innocent life.” He turned his focus to the other woman. “Karrena, you can’t let her take an innocent life.”
Karrena gasped, and now I understood why he’d been so excited about the baby.
Maggie shouted in a haggard voice, “He’s lying!”
“What if he’s not? We can’t take that chance, Maggie!” Karrena grabbed Maggie’s arm to try to stop her and in the struggle, the knife dropped from the platform to the ground.
The wind picked up suddenly, and I looked around surprised. I wasn’t doing this at all.
Dane seemed to know what was going on though. He stood straighter and looked in the direction of something coming through the trees, causing them to sway as if it were a giant pushing his way through the forest.
Just as I expected to see a huge creature emerging from the colorful leaves of the trees, the people nearest began to back away until they were fleeing in all directions. Panicked people ran every way possible until they’d completely disappeared, leaving Maggie, Karrena, and us standing on the platform and Jethro standing below in the clearing with Clooney and a stranger by his side.
I was so relieved to see Clooney. I’d begun to think I’d never see him again, and emotion filled me as I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I had so much I needed to say to him, but the seriousness of the moment pulled my focus back to the man with which Clooney had arrived.
The wind died suddenly as my gaze met the soulful eyes of the stranger. They looked familiar to me, and I felt a strange connection to him somehow.
