by Nicole Maggi
You were magnificent back there, Bree. We could not have retaken this site without you.
A snippy retort formed in my mind, but I let it go. Thanks.
Dario winged back into the valley where we’d all met up before the battle. Below us, I spotted a dozen figures, their auras streaming around them like cloaks made of stars. I could feel Nerina and Alessia nearby. I could feel all of them: the Friuli Clan guarding the now-regained site, the rest of the Concilio Celeste racing back to safety, the Twin Willows Clan all the way back in Maine, the Redwoods, the Congo, Angel Falls, Pakistan, the Snow Leopards of Tibet. I felt them all inside me, my soul as expanded as it had been when I’d been working the magic. There’s something here, I said to Dario. Something more powerful than anything I’ve ever encountered.
It’s not the site, Bree. It’s you.
What do you mean?
The hillside rose before us and Dario landed gently on its crest. The rest of the Benandanti gathered around us. I lay forward on his neck because I didn’t want my Dragon ride to be over quite yet, but also because I didn’t know if I had the strength to stand up by myself.
I wasn’t sure I would see this in all my many lifetimes, Dario said. He’d opened his thoughts to everyone else, and I could feel them all listening with hushed attention. I had almost given up hope.
See what?
Dario raised his wings so they fanned around me. I was caught in the middle of his aura, surrounded by celestial light. I held my hand in front of my face. No. It wasn’t his aura that enveloped me—it was my own. Somehow, even though I could not separate my soul from my body, I had grown my own aura. What’s happening to me?
Wind scattered over the hill. A faint line of gray appeared on the horizon. You’ve crossed over. You’ve moved beyond the place of the mages to the place where the magic of all the sites joins. You have become . . .
I held my breath.
. . . the Abbess.
Chapter Twenty-five
Fine, I Get It, Soft Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Weak
Bree
“What the hell is the Abbess?”
I paced the length of the rug in Alessia’s grandparents’ living room. The Clan and the rest of the Concilio had scattered to safety while Nerina, Dario, and I had headed back to the house. It was the wee hours of the morning, but my body buzzed with energy and restlessness. Remnants of magic still curled around me, wisps of multicolored smoke rising off me like steam.
“The origins of the Benandanti are shrouded in mystery,” Dario said from the tall, throne-like chair beside the couch. “But it’s believed that the magic was discovered in the days of ancient Rome and that the goddess Diana created the Benandanti to protect the gods.”
“Diana?” Alessia piped up from her seat on the couch next to Nerina. “Like, the goddess of the hunt?”
“But that’s myth.” I paused long enough to stare down at Dario. “I mean, the gods and goddesses were things that people made up to explain their world.”
“Oh, ye of little faith.” Dario smiled and stroked his trim little beard. It was hard to reconcile this neat, skinny guy with that massive Dragon. In human form, he looked like someone who spent his days taking notes in museums. “The gods and goddesses of ancient cultures were real. Are real.”
“Come on. You can’t tell me Diana is still hanging around Mount Olympus.”
“The gods are as real as we choose to make them, Bree.” He peered at me over the top of his round, owl-eye glasses. “Think about the magic. That’s as real to you as anything, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but—”
“And that magic had to come from somewhere.” Dario’s eyes crinkled, showing fine lines at the edges, the only outward sign of his age. “Why not from a powerful Roman goddess?”
The information was crowding into my brain like passengers onto a train during Tokyo rush hour. I pinched my forehead. “Okay, but you’re still not telling me what the Abbess is.”
“Eventually, the Benandanti turned away from Diana and to Christ.” Dario rested his elbows on his knees, his chin in his hands. I knew he was like five centuries old, but he looked like he’d never lost his curiosity in all that time. He still had a childlike wonder at the world. How had he kept it all those long years, through everything he must have seen? And how had I lost it after only sixteen years? Oh, ye of little faith, indeed. “Diana retreated. But she dispersed her power amongst the seven sites. And only a mage who truly connects to each site’s magic can awaken that power.”
I locked eyes with him. “When I was in Tibet,” I said, measuring my words, “the Rabbit had rigged some sort of brazier to pour out the spell to turn all those people into Malandanti.” I hugged myself, shivering with the memory. “I stopped the spell by spilling whatever was inside that brazier out. But something . . . else happened.”
Nerina sucked in a breath. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”
I put my hand on my hip and looked at her. “Oh, like you’ve never kept anything from me?”
Red bloomed in her cheeks, and she sank into the couch cushions. I turned back to Dario. “So, did I awaken Diana’s magic in Tibet?”
He shook his head. “No. But I believe that was the first step. The Tibetan magic is unique in that it is the source of our ability. I believe it wasn’t until tonight—until you set foot in the Olive Grove, the magic that binds all the magic into one—that her power came alive inside you.” He looked like a little elf who’d just played a clever trick and gotten away with it. “The Benandanti call the one who awakens Diana’s power the Abbess. There hasn’t been one since the generation before I was Called.” He clapped his hands together. “And now we have one! The Malandanti have no idea what they’re up against.”
“Well . . .” I ran my hand through my hair. “I think they kinda do. The Rabbit saw me with that power. He might be an asshole, but he’s not an idiot. He’s gonna figure it out.”
“But he might not be able to figure out how to fight it,” Dario said. “And any advantage we can gain, I’ll take.”
Twenty-four hours later, we were back in Twin Willows. It really wasn’t fair. The only sightseeing I’d gotten to do was that dumb church Alessia had made us stop at. I’d been in the land of luxury goods, and the only shopping I’d done was for postcards at the airport. But Dario wanted us back in position in case Angel Falls was reclaimed. Angel Falls and the Waterfall were the two sites that remained under Malandanti control. No one could deny that things were coming to a head. I could feel it in my blood and bones. Then again, I felt everything in my blood and bones these days. The magic was awake in me all the time. It made me feel strong and powerful. It also made it really hard to sleep.
Which is why I found myself pacing the perimeter of Jenny’s house in the middle of the night, reinforcing pieces of the protection spell that had become frayed. If Pratt found out this was where Alessia was, she was dead meat. We were all dead meat.
Cold starlight flickered down, reflecting on the few patches of snow that still remained. Most of Jenny’s yard was brown grass and earth, but it still gave me hope that spring would someday, finally, come to this frozen corner of the planet. Yet another reason it would’ve been nice to stay in Italy a few extra days. It was warm there.
Behind me, a twig snapped and footsteps crunched on the hard ground. I turned, not surprised to see Cal. He’d been wearing his puppy dog face since we’d gotten back . . . actually since before that. Since we kissed in the kitchen. Which we hadn’t really talked about. I’d let it happen, and then I pretended it hadn’t.
“I thought you might want some company,” he said. “And cocoa.” He held out a tin cup with a few big fluffy marshmallows floating on top.
“I’m almost done.” I started pacing again. Undeterred, he fell into step with me.
I took the cocoa from his hand but didn’t look at him.
“So, uh, Nerina mentioned something about . . .”
“Ah.” Now I did look at him, a wry smile
twisting my lips. “You are looking at a bona fide Abbess here, mister.”
Cal whistled low. “That’s pretty . . . ah . . . okay, fine. What the hell is an Abbess?”
I laughed. Everyone else—Nerina, Heath, and Alessia, who I could tell was a little miffed I’d once again stolen her thunder—was acting like it was some great big honor, like something I’d actually nominated myself for. “I guess I unlocked some magic that’s hard to unlock or something. No biggie.”
“Well, it sounds like a biggie.” Cal looked sideways at me and grinned. “It also sounds like you really want to stop talking about how biggie it is.”
I took a sip of the cocoa and let my eyes dance at him over the rim of the cup. Exactly. Maybe I didn’t give Cal enough credit. Maybe we should talk about that kitchen kiss.
“Tell me about Italy,” he said before I could say anything. “Tell me about the Olive Grove.”
“You probably got to see a lot more of Italy than I did when you were there,” I said. “But the Olive Grove . . .” I trailed off. For once, I had no sarcastic quip. I couldn’t deny that I’d been changed there . . . and that this new, deeper Bree was someone who maybe didn’t have to bite and snarl so much. “The Olive Grove is amazing,” I whispered. “It really is the source of all things. You can feel it inside you even before you get there.”
Cal met my gaze, his eyes golden puddles of warmth that sparked my insides. His look was so soft, softer than any look a guy had given me for a long time. If ever. I wasn’t really known for choosing guys who could be soft. “Bree . . .” he murmured, and he made my name sound like a prayer. He took one step toward me.
I took one step back and held up my hand. “You need to know something about me.” How come I could pour out magic without any fear but I couldn’t talk to this kind, good guy without my voice shaking? When had I been the one to go soft? “I’m not nice. And I don’t stay. It used to just be my family who moved around. But now it’s me. I get restless, and I move on.”
“Bree,” he said again, and I realized it wasn’t that I’d gone soft. It was that the magic hadn’t just awakened power inside me. It had awakened possibility. Possibility in all things . . . like maybe it was possible that this time, I wouldn’t run. “Why don’t we just relax? I’m not asking you to marry me.”
I stared at him and started to laugh. Of course he wasn’t. When had I started taking things so seriously? I wasn’t Alessia, for Chrissakes. I was still laughing when Cal took my face in his hands and kissed me, capturing my laughter on his tongue. The cold Maine night fell away, leaving me only with the heat of his mouth on mine and the fire that ignited in my belly.
Cal pulled away for a moment and searched my face. “I might not be asking you to marry me, but I still think you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. I doubt there are a lot of men out there who deserve you. All I hope is that I might be one of them.”
Coming from any other guy, it would’ve been a line, but somehow I knew that from him, it wasn’t. I dragged him back to me, tasting sweet and spice and cold on his tongue. We stumbled our way to the back porch, found a dry spot beneath the eaves, and made out hardcore for a long time. He was so comfortable to be with; he made it easy to forget all the crap that was going on all around us. It wasn’t until sunlight began to streak the deck that we came up for air. “We should probably go back in,” Cal said, snuggling me back against his chest.
“Probably,” I agreed, but neither of us made a move to get up. We watched the sun rise above the horizon, turning the sky pink and gold and blue. The colors were brighter than I’d ever seen them. Cal nuzzled my neck. I put my hand on the back of his head, my fingers tangling in his thick golden hair.
After several more minutes, he pulled away, his breath ragged. “Okay, now we really should go in. Before they send someone out to find us.”
I sighed and stood up. “Yeah, you’re right.” We held hands all the way back around the house, only breaking apart as we walked through the front door. I skidded to a stop in the living room, where Nerina was with the entire Clan.
“There you two are,” she said, and by the once-over she gave both of us, I could tell she knew exactly what we’d been up to.
I pressed my cold hands to my flushed cheeks. With forced nonchalance, I leaned against the couch. “I was just reinforcing the protection spell. What’s going on?”
Nerina held up her phone. “I just got off the phone with Dario. Last night we regained Angel Falls.”
Cheers erupted from everyone, excited questions about how it had happened, what was next. But I didn’t need to ask what was next. I swallowed hard and searched the room until I found Alessia’s gaze. She wasn’t smiling or cheering either.
The war was coming to a head, and the final battle would be fought on our turf.
The Waterfall was the last stand.
Chapter Twenty-six
The Legacy
Alessia
“Dario has sent out the word to all the Clans,” Nerina continued when everyone had quieted down. “Whoever can be spared from each site will come here, along with the entire Concilio.”
“Hang on,” Bree said, “won’t that leave the other sites exposed to a Malandanti takeover?”
“As long as one Benandante is inside the barrier, they cannot break through. Not without the Rabbit, who will surely be here.” Nerina’s gaze swept over each of us. “Everyone will be arriving sometime today. When they do, we will go in.”
A heated conversation began about where everyone would stay, who we could trust to put them up, how we were going to hide an influx of “foreign tourists” into Twin Willows from the rest of the town’s residents. I peeled myself up from the couch and ducked around the back of it. When I got to Bree, I tugged her into the kitchen.
“What is it?” she asked in a low voice.
“You need to get me to Jonah.” It was the only thought in my head, the only thing I could focus on amongst all the swirling bits inside me.
Bree pressed her lips together. She searched my face for a minute. “Okay. But not now. We should wait until tonight.”
I ran my hands through my hair. I wanted to go now, before anyone could give me a million things to do. But Bree was right. We needed the cover of night. “Thanks, Bree.”
“Yeah, well, I’d like to see him too.” She grinned at me. “But don’t worry, I’ll give you two plenty of alone time.”
I tugged on my hair, like somehow I could tug all the thoughts out of my mind and stomp on them. Alone time. Maybe for the last time ever. Even if we both made it out of the battle alive, we would still be on opposite sides . . . no matter which side won. I dragged my hands from my head to my heart. Would the ache ever go away?
“Come on,” Bree said. “They’re going to notice we’re gone.”
“By the way,” I said just before we reached the living room, “I noticed you and Cal gone this morning.”
She grinned, but there was no mirth in it. “Yeah, our timing is awesome, isn’t it?”
I touched her arm. “It might be the best timing ever. You never know.”
There was a ton of activity in the living room. The whole household was up now. I headed for the stairs, but Heath blocked me. “Hey, I want to show you something,” he said.
I followed him into the den, and it was only when we were inside that I realized Lidia was right behind me. She shut the door, blocking out the hustle and bustle from the rest of the house. “What’s going on?” I asked, my nerves alight as I looked between them.
Heath went to the desk and pulled the chair out. “Sit.” My gut flipped over. What had I done now? What kind of lecture were they double-teaming me for? But when I sat, Heath swiveled me toward the desk. On its surface lay the book I had pulled from our basement, the one that had given me away to Pratt. “We read it while you were in Italy.” Heath’s dark blue eyes were soft on my face. “You should read it, too.”
I stared at the book. The moment I touched the pages, it be
gan to glow with cerulean light, like it was lit from within.
I hadn’t had any chance to look at the book before I’d been hustled off to Italy, and now I saw how truly ancient it was. The first several pages were made from animal hide and covered in pictures drawn in what looked like red chalk. “What is this?”
“It’s from the most ancient civilization known to inhabit Maine,” Heath said. “The Red Paint People.”
Confused, I turned more pages. The pictures morphed into words and images, a strange language I still couldn’t read.
“Algonquin,” Heath said before I had to ask. “Spoken by the Passamaquoddy Indians.”
Lidia put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “This book is a history of all the Benandanti of the Twin Willows Clan. Going back before Europeans ever settled here.”
My breath caught. The letters and images on the pages swam before me. This was my history, my legacy. I turned each page like it was the most precious object on earth. The language moved from Algonquin to Spanish and French and finally to English. Names, dates, and short entries like this one:
August 26th, 1794
We were beset upon by the Malandanti when the Moon was directly overhead. I was forced to Call the Clan in its Entire. After a hard-fought Battle, we maintained Control of the site but at the Cost of our own Cougar. The Ritual was performed.
And:
October 21st, 1794
We have replaced the Cougar with the Fox, Ned Jacobs, who is of fine Character and Upbringing. In bocca al lupo.
With tears streaming down my cheeks, I touched the well-aged ink on the creamy parchment. Ned Jacobs . . . I looked up. Lidia nodded. “He was your five times great-grandfather.”
“Oh,” I breathed. “It really is a family tradition.”
