“Or what?”
Without thought, I charged my mother and punched her in the cheek.
It sent Delphine backwards and forced her to release Celestina. She drew her fingers against the spot I’d punched. “You…hit me!”
“You will never touch her again.” Satisfied that my niece was out of striking distance, I said, “Do you hear me?”
“I can’t believe—”
“Do you hear me?” I shouted, sensing that balls of fire would soon shoot from my hands.
My mother glanced at her fingers, relieved that they hadn’t come away bloody. Then she set her gaze on mine. “You have no idea what you’re—”
“Shut up!” I concentrated on keeping the flames from blasting out of my palms. “Unless you want me to burn you into a crisp, you’re going to give me answers.”
“Huh?” Delphine stared at me, shaking her head as though seeing double. “What?”
“Can anyone cast a spell?”
“You’re trashed. Again.” Delphine laughed. “You silly fool: you know only someone with paranormal power can enact a spell. If you’re tuned-in to the supernatural, you can harness the supernatural.” She studied my face. “You don’t…look drunk.” Realization came over her. “Ah, Serena! Now that remark about burning me ‘into a crisp’ makes sense. I should have known. My real daughter wouldn’t dare lay a hand on me…But I’ll play along and answer your question. To think that an ordinary human can just recite a spell and…magic occurs?” She chortled. “To them…they’re just words. They’re meaningless. Only someone who can see or sense our world can make those words come alive.” She placed her gaze on mine. “You’re so ignorant. You have so much to learn.”
“Why do you want The Book of Souls?”
Delphine cracked a smile. “See?” she asked in a wondrous voice. “So ignorant!”
“What’s so important about it?”
Rather than answer, my mother threw her head back and laughed.
I got the impression that Delphine had remained impassive to keep me busy while Alexis stole the grimoire from the shop. I seized Celestina’s wrist, ran across the room to the door, and hurried outside before my mother could follow us.
As we raced across the grass in the front yard toward my car, the hair on the back of my neck lifted. I risked a glance behind me.
Delphine stood on the front step, glaring at me.
When we reached the car, I unlocked the doors, and hurried into my vehicle as Celestina got into the passenger seat. I started it up and stomped on the accelerator, speeding away from the street and heading toward The Antique Boutique in hopes that Celestina might be able to help me stop Alexis from stealing the grimoire.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Celestina and I arrived at the shop to find the entrance unlocked with the lights out. When I opened the door, the bell jingled overhead, announcing my arrival. Damn! I wish I’d removed that method to announce a visitor. In this instance, it worked against me.
I expected a noise of some kind: a scream or a plea for help. But an eerie quiet greeted me, revealing that, in all likelihood, Alexis had silenced Kendall and taken her hostage. Although I suspected that my sister watched my movements, I didn’t want to turn on the lights and give her an unhindered line of sight. For that reason, I didn’t call out to either her or Kendall.
The streetlight shined through the window, giving me a good idea of where one aisle started and another began. While Alexis might currently have a better grasp of her surroundings, because she’d had enough time to allow her eyes to adjust to the darkness, I figured that I had a much better advantage, since I’d walked around this building hundreds of times over the past decade and a half.
“What now?” asked Celestina, creeping along beside me.
“Stay quiet and follow my lead.” I grasped her hand and we made our way into the shop.
“You can’t match my power,” Alexis said from the distance. “We both know I’m the firstborn. Who is that by your side? Is that…my daughter?”
I pinpointed her location at the back end of the right side of the building. So I purposely released Celestina without a sound and made my way down the aisle straight ahead, which hopefully gave my sister the idea that I didn’t know where she stood. Not only that, but I wanted more time to formulate a plan. I needed to figure out a way to even out her advantage during our eventual confrontation.
“Can’t find me, sis?” she asked with a chuckle. “Can’t say I’m surprised. You aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Glad you let my daughter go though. Don’t want her to see me wipe the floor with you.”
As much as I wanted to toss out a snarky comment, I didn’t say a word, hoping my silence threw Alexis off balance. My sister probably knew that I walked down the aisle furthest away from her, but by not answering her, my stealthy approach might have made her question how I planned to respond.
“Oh, I see,” she said with uncertainty. “Trying to fool me, huh? Not gonna work, sis. I can see you.”
I ducked and planted my body flat against the ground. Rather than continue toward the back of the shop, I slithered across the ground like a snake, making my way toward the front of the building. Once there, rather than moving down the next aisle, I headed toward the back of the room in hopes of facing her sooner than later.
“Okay,” Alexis said with a bit of urgency. “Can’t see you now. Not that it matters. I’m way stronger than you. You know that, right?” she asked, as though trying to convince herself of that fact.
I had no doubt that she could defeat me in a battle of sorcery, but when it came to hand-to-hand combat, I’d have the upper hand. So I interpreted her misgivings as fear, and I intended to use that against her. I wormed my way down the aisle, taking my time, trying not to make a sound.
“I’ve got your little friend here. What’s her name? Kendall? Yeah, she’s knocked out and sleeping peacefully. You gonna come and get her?”
I gained strength from my sister’s dubious statements. It meant she’d lost sight of my presence, which in turn, made her anxious. Good. I needed an edge against a woman who could attack me from afar.
“I’ve got to say: you are a worthy opponent.”
I ignored her concession as an attempt to get on my good side, hoping to lure me out into the open, so she could attack. I continued across the ground, now passing the third stack of shelving units, making my way toward the final one, the unit Alexis hid behind.
“When we fought and you hit me,” she said, “I didn’t even see your fist. I had no time to react. But I won’t underestimate you again.” Once more, she sounded as though she was speaking to herself, trying to psych herself into believing that she could handle any threat I threw her way.
That made me grin. I slowed my approach, knowing that any sound my shirt or pants made against the tile might alert her to my presence. And because she was on high alert, Alexis would be that much more attuned to any sound encroaching upon her hiding place.
“You know what?” she asked, letting out a wary breath. “I don’t care. I know that you’re conspiring against me. You’re trying to set my daughter against me.”
Alexis’s wild accusations set heat burning inside me, and by now I’d had enough experience to know how to somewhat control the sensation, so I stopped moving and concentrated on relaxing. Within ten seconds, I’d managed to push the heat down.
“Is that it? You’re a coward? You’re afraid to fight me?”
I’d contemplated a handful of ways to fight my sister, but none promised the least bit of success. I crawled up to the last shelving unit and glanced around the corner.
Peering through a wide swath of space in the unit while glancing left and right, Alexis had fastened an arm around Kendall’s neck, the move eliciting airy groans from her mouth. Kendall, who faced my way but didn’t see me, waved her arms in the air, trying to squiggle out of my sister’s lock hold.
Then her eyes focused on mine, and she stopped resisting Alexis. Pr
obably figuring that doing so for more than a few seconds might catch my sister’s attention, Kendall began swinging her arms again.
Oblivious, Alexis said, “She’s losing her will to fight. If you wait too long, I might end up choking her to death.”
I got to my feet, but my shoes swept across the ground, making my sister stiffen and twist her neck my way. A smirk split her lips and she lifted her hands in my direction, prepared to fling frozen daggers at me.
Fear loaded heat through me and before she had a chance to do that, I blasted a short torrent of warmth toward Alexis and Kendall.
The disruption prompted Alexis to release Kendall in order to shield her face with her hands, in which case she’d raise a shield of ice. All told, I couldn’t have hoped for a better response.
No longer constrained, Kendall almost fell to the floor from her continued efforts to escape from my sister’s clutches. She righted herself, rushed over to me, and swung around the shelving unit.
Snarling with frustration, Alexis lowered her hands, embarrassed to have expected an attack that never came. “Neat little trick. So, I guess round two begins.” She swung her hands toward me. A gust of arctic air rushed toward me, and with fright propelling me forward, I raised a curtain of heat, blocking the ensuing chill from enveloping me.
Specks of melting ice produced popping sounds between us. This time, unlike our last encounter, I felt the full brunt of the attack: the power Alexis called upon dwarfed mine, and I didn’t know how long I’d be able to hold back the torrent of ice.
Between the flickers of flames and the vortex of wintry elements, Alexis grinned at me. “I can do this all day.” She removed her right hand, feigned a yawn and covered her mouth, acting bored, making it clear she didn’t need two hands like I did to maintain this standstill. To prove this point, she stuck her free hand on her hip and slouched on one leg like an egotistical model.
The door at the front of the shop swung open, the jingle barely audible during the battle between my sister and me. The lights flicked on.
Alexis and I flinched at the unexpected illumination, which broke our concentration at the same time, ending our battle, as our eyes adjusted to the radiance.
“Starting the festivities without me?” asked Delphine. She grabbed Celestina before she attempted to escape from the building. She kept the child beside her hip. “Very inconsiderate.” Understanding creased her forehead into lines. Spotting us, she said, “Good God. This again?” She looked down at her granddaughter. “Kids!” she said, shaking her head, flummoxed. “If it wasn’t for the line, I wouldn’t have had any.”
Celestina lowered her head as though admonished.
“Oh, don’t glower,” Delphine said. “Do that too often and your face will get stuck looking that way forever. Would you want to look like your Aunt Serena?” Kendall tried to leave, but Delphine motioned toward her. “Stay put, young lady.” When she did as requested, Delphine turned her attention to me. “You really should give up. Alexis will only prolong the torture…when you inevitably lose.”
Alexis concentrated on what our mother said. I appreciated the good fortune. It allowed me to split my attention between my mother and my sister, unsure which one might attack me first.
“Why do you want the grimoire?” I asked Delphine.
“This again?” she asked, sighing with irritation. “It’s really getting old. Zephora would be so ashamed.”
“But she’s gone.”
“Yes, she’s beyond the veil. But I’ve been communicating with her.”
“Where? On psychowitches.com?”
She laughed. “You silly child: only I can communicate with those ancestors in our line who have moved on.”
“So what do you do? Sit inside a pentagram and share family recipes?”
“Such delectable sarcasm.” A smile formed on Delphine’s lips. “A Sykes family trait. Other than your powers, it’s the only characteristic that proves you’re one of us.”
“I’m not one of you,” I said, appalled at the insinuation. “I might be your daughter, but I’m nothing like you.” I nodded toward Celestina. “And neither is she.”
“I fear you’re right. It’s disappointing, I’ll give you that.” She put a hand on Celestina’s head and patted it as a pet owner might do with her dog. “But she will grow into her role.”
“And what is that?”
“The most powerful witch since Zephora. My daughter will see to that, won’t you Alexis?”
My sister gnawed on the inside of her cheek, remaining silent, showing no emotion.
“See?” Delphine said. “She knows her place in our family and in our line…unlike you.”
“Thanks for the compliment.” Seeing my mother narrow her eyes at me, irritated that I considered her response as praise, I said, “Okay, you get the grimoire, but you can’t read it. So Zephora’s spirit will stop by your house, while you flip page after page, so she can read it to you like it’s a bedtime story? All so you can destroy the world?”
She smirked. “You are so clueless.” Her laughter bellowed through the shop.
“Okay, before you start twirling the tips of your invisible mustache, why not let Kendall go. She’s not involved in this.”
The front door opened and Darius stepped into the shop, clutching Brandon’s shoulder.
I presumed that Kendall had texted Brandon to meet her at the shop right after contacting me…just to be on the safe side. It seemed I’d failed to prevent either of them from getting sucked into my family dynamic.
Delphine glanced at Darius and examined his expression. “Are you going to be a problem?”
“Perhaps.” He gave that some thought as he scanned the perimeter. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Well,” said Delphine, dismissing him. She released a breath with annoyance. “I guess we’ll get started then.” She set her gaze on Kendall. “Come here.”
Without a second thought, Kendall made her way over to her.
A bolt of fright streaked through me. I attempted to block her passage, but an overwhelming urge to stand still made me do just that. Feeling a pluck and ping, realizing that my sister was trying to tap my mind, I resisted and broke the sway she held over me. But it required more strength of mind than the last time, leaving me dazed. I figured that she’d gone easy on me in the past, whereas now, she set her powers on full tilt. Even so, I figured that she could overwhelm my impulses without much effort.
A determined look came over Brandon, and he moved in Kendall’s direction, but Darius clamped down on his shoulder and stopped him.
Since my sister could push thoughts into Brandon’s mind, Darius momentarily prevented that from happening by tossing him to the ground. He pulled a spindle of twine off the counter, whirled around Delphine in a flurry of activity, and bound her arms against her thighs.
It seemed that, for the moment, he sided with me. Since he’d stopped protecting me, I guessed that he’d tied up Delphine for his own benefit.
“Damn you!” Delphine tried to move but tripped and hit the ground. She placed one hand on the floor and the other on Darius’s shoe.
The concrete surrounding Darius melted into an undulating pool. It swept up his shoes, and solidified, locking his feet in place. He tried pulling them free and almost lost his balance before righting himself and standing upright.
“What have you done?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“It’s moving much too fast, isn’t it? I can fix that.” The cement pooling around his feet inched up past his ankle. “I always preferred slow torture. It’s much more entertaining.” Delphine looked at Celestina. “Untie me. Now!”
After a few seconds of indecision, my niece extended a hand and twirled her fingers in the air while whispering an incantation. The twine loosened around Delphine’s body and lay limp around her. It allowed her to wriggle out of its grasp and get to her feet.
As Kendall hurried over to Brandon, I felt an outside influence trying to slip into my mind and take
control. Yet, rebelling against Alexis placed great strain on my brain. Unlike in the past, where I could repel her force without much effort, now it felt like someone was using a jackhammer against my temples.
Wincing, I found myself swaying to one side and then the other. The pain had obviously affected my ears, disrupting my balance.
I heard Kendall and Brandon shout behind me a second before I bashed into one of the shelving units. I fell off to the side, my knees crashing into the ground. Grunting back agony, I set my sights on Darius to see if he fared any better.
Humiliation and frustration battled for control of his facial features. The melted concrete had swept halfway up his shins.
I tried to drag myself over to Kendall and Brandon. That’s when a brisk gale devoured me. I shivered on the ground, trying to turn toward Alexis, who had certainly mounted this unseen attack, but doing so persuaded her to ratchet up the force as she dialed down the temperature. Frost covered my skin, and I couldn’t stop shaking. Soon enough, ice crackled on my skin with every jerking movement. It only encouraged my sister to increase the pressure, which clamped down on the sheet of ice by doubling its thickness.
I glanced around the room and saw both Kendall and Brandon standing upright near the doorway with blank expressions, looking as though Delphine had mentally convinced them that they weren’t capable of any thought she hadn’t put into their minds. And who knew what that might have been?
Delphine approached me, leaving Celestina behind her as tears rolled down my niece’s cheeks as though she had foreseen this very event, but could do nothing to prevent it from taking place.
“What?” I asked my mother, expecting to form more words. The frigidity, however, made it impossible to move my facial muscles, so I ended up groaning.
“Do we plan on doing?” Delphine finished for me. “Well, I know the grimoire is here. Alexis read your thoughts and said you knew it was here somewhere, just not where. That’s why I’ve been so relentless. I suppose your grandmother used a spell to hide it in plain sight. Since she left it to you, if the line breaks or if the grimoire no longer has an owner or protector, it will unbind the spell and make the grimoire visible to any paranormal entity.”
Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1) Page 25
