The Wind Between Worlds

by Julie Hutchings

  “I know where he is,” Una said. “Step one eliminated: no looking required. He’s in the Earth Elemental’s soul.” She tried to contain that the memory of the place itched her like bugs, but I saw her eyes dart, the chain link in her lip quiver.

  “Vera,” I said. “How can we get to—inside—her?”

  “She’s untouchable,” Vera said. We all looked at the ground beneath us, the leaves our bodies pressed into as we sat in a circle, the dirt underneath. It seemed so welcoming and fresh, and yet it was hers. The Earth Elemental had Lux trapped in there.

  Demon or not, he must have been terrified.

  “Vera’s right,” Delcine said. “We can’t play both sides anymore. We have to attack the Earth Elemental if we want to get to her soul. There’s no other way if we want a chance at all.”

  “Their souls are strong because of the Spirit Elemental,” I said. “My mother keeps them strong because each of them is the point of the pentacle.” I drew the pentacle in the dirt, brushing away leaves. “Spirit at the top, the rest of the Elementals at each point. And connecting them is us.” I wrote our names on the straight lines of the star.

  Una kicked the dirt. “We’re what holds the pentacle together, what holds them together, and The Chains.”

  “Where are we supposed to go?” Cym said in her tiny voice. “We’ll have no homes.”

  “Cym,” I said, holding her arm like she might drift away. “That home of yours isn’t helping you. All those bottles and boxes, all those things you filled—they hold you captive. Your mom isn’t helping you control your magic, and you’re so afraid.”

  “Fear is its own kind of magic,” the Witch of Empty Things said in her broken ghost way. I didn’t shiver anymore when she said things like that, but my heart still broke for her.

  “They tell us not to use our magic, but we’re punished one way or another,” Una spat, fixing her gaze on each of us. I still wanted to come to my mother’s defense, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t do that and be loyal to them, too. The Poisons depended on me; my mother did not.

  “I won’t be punished anymore,” Vera said, a creepy as hell smile taking over her face under the lights.

  “Yeah, ooookay,” Delcine said, putting her hand on Vera’s back. Vera didn’t move either to flinch or acknowledge the comfort, but that small gesture showed me a connection between the two Poisons, and I was excited about it. A leader should be.

  The wind whipped through the trees with an urgency that spelled trouble. Cymbeline looked to the tree tops, and we did the same. The crack that followed was right above our heads and we just managed to dodge an enormous branch plummeting to the ground. The Earth consumed it like quicksand.

  “They’re here,” Una said as water bubbled up out of the ground beneath us, softening the earth, our feet sinking in. The Water Elemental and the Earth Elemental united against us.

  We ran, Cymbeline’s lights going out behind us. We fell dozens of times, always pulling each other up, crying out to the others as we saved each other over and over.

  “I smell smoke!” I cried over the piercing wind. “Del, I smell smoke!”

  The Fire Elemental appeared in front of us in a plume of smoke that dressed her like a burlesque dancer. She was smiling like it was the most fun she’d ever had, hovering in the air, ready to strike.

  Earth, Air, Water, and Fire all accounted for. My heart pounded, and not from running.

  I wanted an anxiety pill but couldn’t stop to take one. My mother wouldn’t be far behind. Cymbeline glanced at me, catching my eye and I knew she was thinking the same thing. What chance would we stand?

  None if we continued to run.

  I stopped, grabbing the hands closest to mine to stop with me. Vera and Cymbeline.

  Delcine and Una stopped when I called to them, but neither looked particularly pleased about it. Una shook her head madly, darting looks at the earth that tugged her feet in right away, trying to deliver her back to that place. I couldn’t hear her swearing over the howling wind forming a living being in front of us.

  “Una. Be strong!” Delcine screamed as Una’s body buckled. Delcine pulled her up and away from the muddied ground to stand on a gnarled root.

  The Fire Elemental cackled and lashed out a whip of flame at her daughter. “Strong?” she hissed. “What do you know of strong, you tramp? You need fire to create temptation. You need me. You’re a pretty face and nothing more.” Every word the crackling hiss of flames, designed to burn the Witch of Sweets’s heart.

  I hated watching Delcine’s shoulders slump at her mother’s words, the self-worth visibly seeping off of her luscious curves by the firelight.

  “Don’t listen to her, Delcine,” I said, voice trembling. The unnatural wind carried my words to her.

  “Why shouldn’t I, Celeste?” she said, crushing me. “The only reason you want me is because I’m one of five. You don’t need me, my powers. My powers are a joke.” The fire grew taller around us, licking at the trees. Instead of the leaves incinerating, the branches reached down to meet the flames, creating a web overhead.

  “Celeste!” Cymbeline wailed, and that was the scariest sound I’d heard all night. She reached out to me, unable to see through the hair wrapped around her face as the Air Elemental grabbed at her with transparent arms, the Earth Elemental pulling her down at the same time from below.

  I’d led them right to their deaths.

  Our deaths.

  The light bulb over my head could have outshone the sun. The Elementals weren’t going to kill us—not like this—this was messy, reactionary. If they lost us now they wouldn’t gain our powers.

  They were toying with us.

  “Celeste!” Cym called again, and I did something to help her that made me wonder if I was totally insane or just a little.

  I Wished for my mother to come.

  “Celeste, help her!” Delcine yelled at me, encased in flames. They singed her over and over, but never burned her completely.

  “I am,” I mouthed.

  I felt her fast. Every last bit of self-doubt was removed, water down a drain, out of my body, replaced with a confidence that I could figure this maze out and save us all.

  My spirit, reignited.

  I looked around and saw that Delcine’s head was high again, her sneer the healthiest thing in the world. All the Poisons looked stronger, reinvigorated. Still overpowered by the Elementals, but suddenly fighting.

  Until the woods stilled, the Elementals with it, silent but for the unnatural singing of birds in the darkness, as if it were daybreak.

  For all the fireworks that the other Elementals brought with them, the Spirit Elemental stood as herself—as my mother—more powerful than them all. Thudding waves of vibration rolled off of her, the pure energy of her unable to be contained. There, in her bare feet, sweatpants and ragged flannel shirt, hair still a mess from her pillow. She smiled at me as she always did upon first seeing me. But then she went to work.

  “Elementals,” she said in a voice like thunder. The Elementals dropped their daughters and rushed to her in a flurry, meeting at her feet.

  “Spirit,” they said, a breathy hush complementing the bird song. How quickly they became humbled by her.

  Without ferocity my mother said, “You betray the power you serve by using it this way.”

  “The Poisons must be stopped,” the Fire Elemental hissed, raising her head but quickly bowing it again.

  “They ally against us,” a voice like a thousand leaves rustling echoed around us.

  “The Poisons,” my mother continued, “must be cultivated and strengthened for their day, not thwarted and played with.” The vibrations around her grew stronger, rippling the air, making the Elementals cringe. “They are your children. Part of your coven and a coven themselves, with power to be respected. Using your magic this way is shameful. But you don’t need me to tell you that.” Words like slivers of glass under your nails came next. “You already feel the betrayal in your bones.”


  The Elementals screamed, clawing at their flesh trying to dig underneath it. I watched in horror as their bones broke and twisted beneath their skin, deforming and reforming their bodies monstrously with sickening cracks as my mother looked on.

  Delcine was the first to move, the rest of us under Spirit’s spell, the purity of her strength. Delcine plodded through the mushy earth to pick up her purse, brushed it off and took off towards the road without another word. Vera followed, as did the rest of us, leaving our mothers behind.

  Chapter 20

  I’d had crushes since I was eleven. Boys with smiles in the hallway that turned my world upside down. Boys that wouldn’t tell me what day it was if I’d asked. I’d had crushes on boys that treated me like one of the guys, even though I wasn’t one of the guys in any way and it was like they were talking to some girl that didn’t exist.

  Never had I felt like I’d change everything to be with someone. There was no thing or routine or safety net that I wouldn’t turn my back on to follow him. I’d never wanted to give a person more of myself—I’d rather keep my secrets hidden. A by-product of keeping my imagination in a box, I guess.

  I’d never felt so terrified that someone just wouldn’t come back, or wouldn’t want to.

  Lux was the background to all my thoughts. When acorns fell I wondered if he’d ever seen that before. Flipping through the channels when I couldn’t sleep, I wanted him there. I wanted to give him half my sandwich. There was a little bit of him in the Cajun hottie in the book I was reading. Songs were all about him, whether they were love songs or not. And every single night I pictured his lips on mine as I fell asleep. Every single night.

  There was to be no more living under the enemy’s roof, at least for the other Poisons. The Elementals were afraid of Spirit’s warning, but they were also hotheaded, narrow-minded and temperamental; it was a matter of time before Una got a beating, or Delcine was belittled into the ground. The Air Elemental had trapped Cymbeline so strongly that no words needed to be spoken to threaten her. And Vera’s mother was too power-hungry to listen to anyone, even my mother for long. She knew Spirit had a plan of her own. They all wanted our powers for a reason. My mother was no different, and had an upper hand already. What if the Elementals figured out a way to use the element of surprise to take it away from her?

  We were working on borrowed time. I had to stay in the hive, close to the Spirit Elemental, but the other Poisons needed to run away from home.

  My mind churned with what this meant for us as just kids, not as witches. Could we survive on our own? It’s not like we had jobs. I suppose we could use magic to get ourselves places to live, pay for things, but was that survival, really? Una would say anything that keeps you alive is survival, but my spirit couldn’t survive that way. How would we even get the electricity turned on? Would we forever rely on magic to do everything for us?

  The endless string of questions I had no answers to didn’t help kick me into action. No matter what my mom was plotting, I didn’t want to leave her. How stupid could I possibly get? Risking my life to stay at home with my mommy?

  I had to find a way to get the Poisons out. I had a coven to protect. Time was burning and that meant making some downright dirty choices.

  That night, sitting on the couch in the filthy clothes I’d been wearing in the woods, I held up my hand and willed a star to appear there. Getting the power to serve me came faster and easier every second.

  “Mom,” I whispered to it, voice hoarse with exhaustion.

  There she was in the room with me, looking not a bit surprised, and not a bit weak.

  “It’s a lie, isn’t it?” I said, eyes on that star, seeing her out of the corner of my eye, slightly unclear. The way she had been my entire life.

  “Which lie, Celeste? The Chains are built on lies. We lie every day.”

  “You don’t get weak when I use my magic. Do you?”

  “No.”

  “And when I turn seventeen?”

  “I can’t give all my secrets away, baby,” she said, tired. Possibly bored.

  “It’s. Not. Your secret.”

  She gently took my chin in her hands, turning my face to hers. Tears made stars in her eyes and I held my breath. “I draw power from you when you keep the magic bottled up. We all do.”

  Using me. Using all of us. I knew it.

  Chin still in her grasp, I said, “It’s time for me to use you back, Mom.” To my surprise, she nodded. Even more surprising was what came out of my mouth next. “You can get Lux away from the Earth Elemental. Do it.”

  She sunk back, a smile playing on her lips sweetly. “Oh dear. You do have feelings for him.”

  “I do,” I said, as if it was the most certain thing I had ever known. Who was I kidding? It was the most certain thing in the world for me. “I feel him—like a missing limb, I feel him more than The Chains. There’s a reason he was here, and it was for more than cryptic warnings and show. He was looking for me.”

  The strength went out of her shoulders. “You’re tied to that boy. He came from The Gone to find you, I’ve always known. He has a tie to you that—” She put her hand over her mouth, stifling what she nearly said.

  “What, Mom?”

  Her tears fell freely and I let out a whimper. “I’m afraid he might not let you go.”

  My mouth hung open. Not let me go? She wanted to kill me! “Afraid he won’t let me go so you can murder me?”

  She sighed, as if this was a trivial question I asked her. I was boiling. “I can’t wage war on the Earth Elemental, Celeste. My plans go deeper than you realize, and I can’t do anything with the demon if he’s torn to bits in a fight. I can’t tell you more.”

  “You know I’ll tell the Poisons.” I shook my head out of her hand, and bore my eyes into hers as hard as I could. Through gritted teeth I said, “He’s important for more than what he can do. I’ll get him out on my own.”

  Fear flickered in her eyes when she said, “I believe that you will.”

  While I struggled to devise a plan, the other Poisons had to sleep with one eye open. Una stayed with Delcine, only because the Fire Elemental had disappeared after Battle Royale in the woods. Cymbeline was trapped in her house. She couldn’t get in touch with me, and when I Wished for her, a howling wind screeched through the air to let me know who exactly was in control.

  I Wished for a huge cup of hot chocolate to ease the ache. Of course it appeared, marshmallows and all, in my hand. With a smile, I blinked at the marshmallows and they changed into penguin shapes to match my pajamas.

  My coven was cowering, and I was making cocoa in my jammies.

  I’d been using my powers without restraint since my mother’s reveal, and it felt like taking the bandages off of a healed wound. I took a deep sip, and I thought. I just thought. I let myself imagine whatever the hell I wanted to.

  Naturally my mind first went to Lux, and how I wanted he could be there to share hot chocolate with me in our pajamas. Did he even own pajamas? Had he ever had hot chocolate? Demon hot chocolate was probably boiled with souls, like stirred right into the—

  I’d Wished for Lux to be there, and he wasn’t.

  It hit me with fury how far he must be, how deep and away if I couldn’t Wish him to me. Even The Gone gave him up at my command. It was horrifying that the Earth Elemental could be stronger than the bonds of the demon realm.

  That was when it dawned on me that there was a valid reason for the Elementals and the Poisons to watch over each other; our powers could be limitless if allowed to flourish, if nobody stopped us.

  Would that be so bad?

  Maybe not if it was me? But the idea of Delcine running without restraint had me cringing right away. And Vera—

  Vera.

  “Holy shit, how did you get in?”

  The Witch of Wicked Words stood in my doorway, perfectly in place amidst my chipped paint and aging flower patterns. She was chipped and shabby herself.

  “You Wished.”

&nb
sp; “I did?”

  “It ruptures out of you. No wonder the Lust Demon found you.”

  She walked in, feet bare, toes filthy, usual cotton dress hanging on her like a little girl’s nightie. A moth flitted out of her hair. She’d never not make me shiver.

  “I’m glad you’re safe,” I said as she stood over my bed.

  Uncertainty flickered in her eyes, the only real emotion I could detect with her ever. “I won’t always be.” She leaned close to my ear with almost robotic movement. I whimpered and flinched. She said, “I can get us away.”

  As much as I’d feared her, I’d still underestimated the Witch of Wicked Words. Her abilities were matched by her devious imagination. I was in awe.

  We left the house in the dead of night, or early morning, whatever you want to call it.

  “Where are we going?” I hissed in the darkness. I was freezing even in the hoodie and sweats I’d put on, yet here Vera was in her damn bare feet and sundress. “Why can’t you wear regular clothes?” I sounded like Una.

  She didn’t answer me, only glared at me in the darkness, her eyes still.

  We’d driven to a remote neighborhood where only homeschooled kids lived. Cymbeline would have fit right in there. Her mother, not so much. The houses were huge, the cars antique, the yards turned into self-sustaining gardens like their owners wouldn’t be caught dead in a grocery store.

  A head peeked up from behind a cluster of sunflowers and I gasped loudly.

  “Cymbeline?” I whispered, shocked.

  The Witch of Empty Things was smiling wider than I thought she was able. I smiled too, when she tucked her silvery blonde hair behind her ear, laughing and sniffing the flowers. Like she’d never seen flowers before.

  “Why is she here?” I asked Vera. “How did she get away?”

  I groaned when Vera drifted toward the house, leaving me answer-free.

  Cymbeline didn’t pay us any attention as we slipped inside the huge, dark house. “Vera, I’m really—”

  I almost said I was putting a lot of faith in her without reason as we broke into a house, but I had to let her lead me; it’s what a leader would do. I had to trust her or she’d never trust me.