The Beckoning (Entangled Series Book 2)

by Jill Sanders

  “How about a glass of wine?” Xtina asked.

  “A shot of whiskey is what I need,” Jess said, sitting down at the table.

  Xtina pulled out a bottle of wine and a bottle of Jameson and poured three glasses of each.

  When she set them down, she glanced at Brea. “Are those your parents?”

  “Yeah,” she sighed.

  “But, I thought…”

  “Yeah,” she interrupted, “so did I.” She downed the whiskey.

  Jess held up her whiskey. “May we get what we want, may we get what we need, may they get what they deserve.” She downed her drink.

  “Where do you get those?” Brea asked out of the blue.

  “Well, that one I changed for the occasion.” Jess sighed and picked up her wine glass. “It’s a hobby and I have a coffee table book.” She shrugged and sipped her wine.

  “So, your mother isn’t dead?” Xtina said after she drank down her own shot of whiskey.

  “Apparently, she’s been in a mental facility south of here.”

  “Mental?” Jess leaned forward. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” Brea’s stomach rolled and she set her wine glass down. “I haven’t gotten the full story, but it sounds like after my aunt disappeared and I was born, she lost it.” A shiver ran through her body. “Even tried to boil me alive, according to your mother.” She turned to Jess. “Sounds like they used to be pretty close.”

  “Wow, I’m sorry.” Jess turned to Xtina. “Guess all of our folks were pretty screwed up.

  “Not my father,” Brea added. “I mean, he lied to me my entire life, but he was a really great father.”

  Jess and Xtina both smiled at her. Xtina reached across and touched her hand, then pulled it away quickly. “It sounds like it.” She stood up. “Well, shall we go hear their story?”

  “How about another shot first?” Jess held up her shot glass.

  This time, the three of them held up their glasses and all eyes moved to Jess, who smiled.

  “Okay, I got one… Here’s to those who treat us well, all those that don’t can go to hell.”

  When they walked back into the living room, Xtina had a tray of drinks. Beer for the guys, and iced tea for the ladies.

  Brea brought her full glass of wine as did Xtina and Jess.

  She was surprised to see Ethan and Jacob walk through the front door. They looked more relaxed around each other than they had since meeting.

  She took a seat and Ethan sat next to her. He grabbed a beer and downed some of it.

  “You okay?” he asked quietly. She nodded in reply.

  “I suppose we should start at the beginning,” Rachelle said.

  “Yes, why don’t you.” Jess stood in front of the fireplace. Jacob grabbed a beer of his own, then stood next to her.

  “We were all very good friends our junior and senior years in high school,” she began. Her eyes moved to Xtina. “Christina’s parents too. That was until after they turned away.”

  “Turned away? Is that a polite way of saying they started torturing their daughter in the name of God?”

  “No, before that,” Dawn added. “Everything changed that night.” Her eyes went to her hands.

  “What night?” Xtina asked.

  “The night Misty disappeared,” Brea added.

  “Right,” Rachelle said. “The night she was chosen.”

  “Chosen?” Jacob stepped forward.

  “Taken was more like it,” Brea’s father added. She could hear anger and hurt in his voice, something she’d only heard a few times before in her life.

  “Taken? Chosen?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

  “We had all decided to party at this place. It wasn’t very well known, and not far from here.”

  “The silo,” Xtina added.

  “Yes. A bunch of football players had used a tractor to skew the lid aside. Only the popular kids knew about it. We would climb down the ladder and party.”

  “We’d done it several times before,” Dawn added.

  “What happened that night?” Mike asked.

  “We were having fun; it was the last big party before winter break.”

  “And?” Brea said.

  “I had just found my grandmother’s journal. None of it made sense back then. I thought it was all some sort of joke,” Rachelle said. “I thought everyone would get a kick out of it. There was a page in the back. It was all very harmless. Or so I thought.” She looked down at her hands. “We did what the page said, gathered the items it required, then made a circle around the water, with the full moon overhead.” She closed her eyes. “I didn’t know…”

  Her husband Larry reached over and took her hand in his. “How could you?” he said.

  “My grandmother died when I was five. I never got to really know her. Anyway, everyone was pretty spooked, but”—she shrugged— “we were teens. So, we said the chant, until something happened.”

  “What?” Xtina asked.

  “The moon fell,” her father added.

  Ethan stood up quickly and glanced around the room. “You mean it’s happened before?”

  “No. Yes.” Rachelle shook her head and looked at the others. “It’s not… really.”

  “It’s a warning,” Dawn said. “Of what’s to come.”

  “Why?” Brea asked. “What else happened that night?”

  “We woke something up. Something more powerful than any of us,” Rachelle said “More powerful than even my grandmother’s bloodline could have ever imagined.”

  “I don’t understand.” Jess leaned forward. “What’s our bloodline got to do with any of this?”

  Rachelle looked at her daughter across the room. “My family, our family is very old. They were here, on this land, long before anyone else. Long before the Indians came or the pilgrims settled here.”

  Jess shook her head. “Before the Indians?”

  Rachelle nodded her head. “From what your grandmother’s journal says. Actually, it’s more of a family journal.” She pulled a thick book out from her bag and set it on the table in the middle of everyone. The book itself was extremely old. Its leather cover looked worn and tattered. There was a crest of sorts burned into its cover. It was about the size of a tablet, but very thick, almost a full half a foot thick. Rachelle took a deep breath. “Apertum,” she whispered.

  To everyone’s amazement, except for her husband, the book’s thick cover lifted and opened. The pages landed somewhere near the middle of the book.

  “The spell was one of the first written. One of the first put to paper.”

  “Spell?” Jess’s voice sounded hollow.

  Rachelle’s eyes met hers. “Yes,”

  “Are you saying I’m almost like a witch?” Jess walked forward.

  “No,” Rachelle said, her eyes going to the book. “I’m saying you are a witch.”

  The room was silent, then Jess burst out laughing. “You expect me to believe what you say after you abandoned me when I was thirteen? Especially when you want me to believe that I’m a witch?” She shook her head, then moved towards the door, but Jacob’s hand on her arm stopped her.

  “Let’s hear them out,” he said, then turned to the group. “This doesn’t explain what happened to Misty.”

  Jess crossed her arms over her chest, but stayed in the room.

  “The spell was to bring Alignak back to Earth. Alignak is the God of the moon and weather and motion. He was later worshiped by the Native Americans thanks to our family and our history with him.”

  “History with him?” Jacob asked.

  “According to this book, he’s appeared to every generation.” Rachelle turned to Jess. “Now do you see why we left? You had just turned thirteen when we started noticing… things.”

  “What kind of things?” Jess stepped forward.

  “Signs. Signs like I had gone through. We thought we could stop it. We thought that if we left…”

  “That you would be protected,” Jess’s father added. “We continue
d to send Carla money each year, to pay for your apartment and everything you’d need.”

  “Carla knew?” Jess took a step back, looking shocked.

  “She never knew where we were, or why we left, only that we had to stay away,” Larry added.

  Jess’s eyes moved to Xtina’s. She shook her head, then nodded to her parents.

  Xtina paled a little, then nodded.

  “Mrs. Sorenson, I’d like to try something.” Xtina held out her hand for the woman’s.

  “Yes,” Rachelle sighed. “I know what you can do. That’s the main reason I allowed my daughter to be friends with you for so long.”

  “You hated us being friends,” Jess added.

  “No, we always acted like we did, but deep down, we knew it was for the best.” Rachelle held out her hand. “See for yourself. Everything we’ve said is the truth.”

  Xtina reached across and touched the woman’s hand. Everyone in the room watched as her green eyes sharpened for a minute or two, then Xtina dropped the woman’s hand and turned her green eyes to Jess’s.

  “I’m sorry, Xtina said. “It’s all there. The power, the sadness. It killed them to leave you.”

  Jess turned away from the room and Jacob walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

  “So, why are you back now?” Mike asked.

  “Because of what Breanna said,” Rachelle said, looking towards Brea, “about seeing Misty.”

  “We’ve seen her too,” Mike added. “Xtina has seen her all her life. She started appearing to me a little over a year ago.”

  “Then it’s true. Our leaving didn’t do anything.” For the first time since meeting her, Ethan saw a tear form in Rachelle’s eyes. “We wasted all those years.” She stood up and walked to the window to look out.

  “Why did you leave? I get that you were trying to protect Jess, but why leave her alone?”

  “I didn’t want her to grow up like I had. You don’t understand. After I found my grandmother’s journal, after I hit puberty, my life changed. Then I found out about my duty and my fate.” She shivered visibly, then laughed. “It was instilled in me. I had one chore in my life. To pass our knowledge on to my daughter. Even that was set in stone. No sons for me, just one daughter. Period.” She sniffled again as her husband wrapped his arms around her. “Just wait, you’ll see. It’s our curse. That and to save the world.”

  “And how did you save the world? By offering my aunt up as a sacrifice?” Brea asked.

  Rachelle turned to Brea. “No, your aunt wasn’t sacrificed.” Her eyes moved to Brea’s mother, Dawn. “It was an accident.”

  Chapter 22

  At midnight, Ethan and Brea walked across the field back to Mike’s house, alone. Her parents and Jess’s had gotten rooms at the hotel.

  She didn’t know how long they would stick around, but already, her father was talking about heading back for work the next day.

  They had talked about reintroducing her mother to the public, which had made her laugh and want to tune out to their conversation.

  When they entered the house, she felt the need to shut everything out, so she attacked Ethan the second the door was locked.

  When she pushed him against the door, he went willingly. Her body ached to extinguish all the pain. So she used him.

  When he touched her, something shifted and the hurt and pain were replaced with longing and love.

  Tears slipped down her face as he carried her into the bedroom, where he made love to her slowly until she felt every ounce of hurt and pain leave her body.

  “I love you,” he said into her hair when she felt her own release meet his.

  Her body tensed, remembering the words, remembering seeing him say them to her in another time and place. Something she’d been trying to deny was in their future.

  He must have felt her tense because he shifted and looked down at her.

  “I know it’s so soon, but I mean it. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.” He brushed a strand of her hair away from her eyes.

  The room was dark, with just the moonlight coming in from the window.

  She could see the love in his eyes, which just broke her heart a little more.

  “Ethan—”

  “No, just hold on to me. I know this has been a shit day for you. I just wanted you to know that’s how I felt.” He leaned in and kissed her softly. “I’m not going to change my feelings anytime soon. Let’s rest.” He pulled her closer and she rested her head on his shoulder. The scar was almost invisible now.

  “I guess we all have a little magic in us,” she said, before closing her eyes.

  Once again, the dream came to her. She was standing in the field and then in the mouth of the tunnel.

  This time she walked deeper into the darkness. She walked for what seemed like ten minutes until she reached a large opening. Here, the almost-red moonlight was streaming in from overhead.

  She was standing in the center of the missile silo, the one everyone had been talking about. The one where her aunt had disappeared.

  There wasn’t any water at the base of the silo; instead, it was solid cement. Her eyes adjusted and she saw a figure standing on the other side.

  Her aunt moved forward until the eerie light fell over her hair and shoulders, blocking her face from view.

  “Why did you do this to me?” she asked.

  Brea realized that her aunt wasn’t see-through, but a solid being.

  “Me? I didn’t do anything.” Brea took another step forward.

  “You pushed me,” she screamed. Then suddenly she was across the space and directly in front of Brea, causing her to take a step back. “You’re just like her.” Her eyes narrowed and she could see the silver turn to white. “You’re going to leave me here.” Her voice rose again.

  “No.” Brea shook her head. “I won’t. I’m trying to break you free.”

  Misty laughed. “There isn’t a way out of the darkness.” She turned away from her. Brea reached out to touch her, but her hand passed directly through the woman.

  “We’ll find a way. I promise. It might help to know where you are.”

  Her aunt turned back towards her. Then her eyes moved up until they both stood in the darkness, looking at the hunter’s moon.

  Brea woke when the sunlight hit her face. Turning over, she bumped into a solid wall of Ethan.

  “Morning,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

  “Morning.” She smiled up at him.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

  “Not really, but having you here helped.” She snuggled into his warmth.

  “We have about an hour before we’re supposed to meet everyone in town for breakfast.” He brushed his hand down her hair.

  She groaned. “Do we have to?”

  He pulled back and looked at her. “No, but since your folks are leaving today to head back to Atlanta, it might be for the best.”

  She nodded, then rolled out of bed, and he followed.

  By the time they rolled into town, she had come up with a new plan.

  “Will you go to the silo with me today?” she asked before he got out of the car at the diner.

  “The silo? The same one my brother got shot in?”

  She nodded. “I think the key to me learning how to control my ability is there.”

  “Why? What makes you believe that?”

  “I’ve been dreaming about it. About a tunnel that leads to the silo.”

  “My brother didn’t mention anything about a tunnel.”

  “I know. They used the main entrance and the actual missile silo. But it’s there. I know it. I think I’m supposed to find it.”

  “Why? What would finding a tunnel have to do with all this?”

  She shrugged. “It’s a piece to the puzzle. One that I need to mark off my list.” She waited until he walked around and opened her door. “It’s a step.”

  He smiled and pulled her into his arms. “Of course. We’ll go whenever you want. Ready?”
He took her hand and they walked into the diner together.

  Brea had never seen so many townspeople come out of the woodwork before. Less than fifteen minutes after Jess’s parents walked in, the entire town of Hidden Creek was crowded into the diner.

  Some had choice words for the couple, but for the most part, people were just happy they were back, safe and sound.

  Jess sat in the corner of the booth across from Ethan and Brea, with Jacob by her side, almost guarding her. When people came over to chat with her about her parents’ return, Jacob would dismiss them quickly.

  “He’s kind of like a big guard dog,” Ethan whispered into her ear. She chuckled and Jess and Jacob looked across the small space at her.

  “How are you holding up?” she asked Jess.

  “Okay, I guess. I’m sorry about what they put you through. At least I knew my parents were alive.” She shook her head. “It must be a lot harder having someone you believed dead all your life turn out to be alive.” She glanced over at Brea’s parents sitting at a table not far from the booth.

  “It was quite a shock.” She glanced over at Jess. “Actually, I’d like to kick something.”

  Jess chuckled. “It doesn’t help, just hurts.” She reached down and rubbed her leg.

  The door of the diner opened and Brea glanced around to see a tall blond man walk in. He took in everyone in the room, then headed towards their booth.

  “Hey, Joe,” Jacob said.

  “Did you read this?” Joe held up a newspaper in front of him. He looked at Brea and his eyes narrowed. “You’re Breanna Garrett. Good job destroying this town.” Joe tossed the paper down, then turned and left.

  “What’s he talking about?” Jess asked, reaching for the paper. But Brea had already seen the headline and groaned. Mentally she traced back to the last time she’d opened the article. Just before her meeting with Drew at the library. She’d put it on her USB drive. Reaching down to her purse, she found the side pocket empty and groaned. She should have guessed. Drew had known about her hiding spot. After all, they had dated for several months.

  After this, there was no way she was going to work with him ever again.

  She glanced over as Jess picked up the paper.

  “Small town of Hidden Creek full of crackpots and kooks. By Breanna Garrett.”