Her breath caught in her throat shallow and labored. A high pitched buzzing filled her ears as she blinked a couple of times, her vision blurry. She could make out trees, some had toppled over fully, some were pitched at precarious angles but all of them leaned outwards in a circular pattern from where Nathaniel had been the epicenter of the explosion. A fine dusty mist hung above the ground filling the night with a strange snowy shroud. Olivia blinked again trying to get her vision to swim back into focus. She could see a tall naked figure standing in the mist. Her vision sharpened and she could make out his jet black hair, his coldly handsome face and dark eyes. Their gazes locked for a moment and a small smirk grazed his perfect mouth then he was gone.
She blinked again, her mind so dulled by the pain and shock it was unable to process what she’d just seen. Her eyes tracked up to the sky, now more fully revealed through the voids where trees had stood only moments before. A loud and ominous cracking sound rent the air above her. It seemed to her she should be alarmed or at least try to move but she just couldn’t, she wasn’t capable of it. Her whole body lay motionless in a thick carpet of leaves, barely aware of the cold and damp seeping through her clothes. The loud cracking noise came again, this time accompanied by a shower of tumbling leaves which fluttered down settling on top of her prone body and when a thick gnarled trunk filled her vision, crashing down towards her, she could do nothing but close her eyes and wait for the darkness to take her. Resigned to her fate she did not even feel the soft warm arms that suddenly enveloped her, cradling her broken body gently.
‘OLIVIA!’ Theo screamed in warning but it was too late.
More dust, dirt and leaves were thrown up into the misty air as the tree hit the ground with an almighty resounding crash. Coughing violently, he climbed over felled trees and debris desperately trying to reach her. He ripped branches out of his way calling to her frantically but there was no answer.
‘OLIVIA!’ he hauled a huge branch out of the way and stared at the tree trunk. It was split vertically as if it had hit some kind of invisible barrier which had caused it to snap clean in two, falling either side.
He climbed up on top of one half of the tree and leaned down, peering into the gloom. His eyes widened in surprise and his expression hardened at the face that greeted him.
Isabel looked up at Theo as she cradled Olivia in her arms. Ignoring his murderous expression, she turned her attention back to her daughter. Smoothing back a lock of dark hair from Olivia’s swollen and damaged face she felt Theo drop down beside her.
‘Did he do this to her?’ she asked accusingly as she took in the bruising and swelling on her face before picking up her damaged hand carefully.
‘The other one did’ Theo replied grudgingly, ‘the Nathaniel from this time.’
‘She’s dying,’ Isabel whispered.
‘No,’ Theo’s jaw tightened, ‘that’s not going to happen.’
‘And how do you think to stop it?’ Isabel asked, her eyes narrowing on his face in interest. ‘Her body is damaged, her heart is failing, how do you propose to stop the laws of nature?’
‘I will not lose her,’ Theo looked down at Olivia’s closed eyes, his voice a whisper and the expression on his face indescribable. ‘I will summon Hades himself if I have to.’
‘A God?’ she replied, quietly studying his face. ‘You would go up against a God? To save my daughter?’
‘I have followed her deep into the belly of the Underworld… I have faced Titans and Judges…I have crossed centuries of time…waited a lifetime…all for her…’ He looked up at Isabel, into the face that looked so much like the woman he loved that it made his heart clench painfully. ‘I would do anything for her.’
‘Yes,’ she murmured thoughtfully, ‘I believe you would…’
Theo held out his hands as his expression hardened. ‘Give her to me.’
Isabel stared, first at his outstretched hands then his determined expression, before finally shaking her head.
‘You can’t help her… not this time,’ she stroked Olivia’s face softly her voice barely louder than a whisper. ‘Only I can.’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked suspiciously.
Isabel ignored him. She cradled her daughter’s cheek in one hand taking in her features. Despite the injures Nathaniel had inflicted on her she could still see an echo of the child she had once been. For a moment the years and everything else fell away and she could almost see her little dark haired girl flushed from a nightmare, being soothing in her arms as she slipped back into a dreamless sleep.
Whilst her mind swirled with memories and regrets Isabel reached down inside herself for her magic. Before she’d been so weak. She’d never had the same kind of power that had come so easily to the West women. Even as a child the most basic charms and spells wouldn’t work for her. She’d been a disgrace to the West name, that’s how she’d always felt. Defective, unwanted, unloved. She’d seen the disappointment in her mother’s eyes time and time again when she’d failed to master even the most basic elements of Witchcraft.
Her Aunt Evie had been the same, they’d never said it but she knew… Aunt Evie had tried so hard to teach Isabel her beloved art of healing, a skill every witch had to varying degrees. All, except her. Well, that was no longer the case. Ever since the Crossroad, ever since the deal, she’d felt the enormous amount of power coursing through her body, as vital as oxygen, as addictive as heroin. But with the power had also come knowledge and with it a greater understanding of the worlds and her place in them. Hester was right, it had changed her. An unconscious frown marred her brow as she laid her hand gently on Olivia’s chest, feeling her heartbeat falter, stuttering like the fragile wing beat of a caged bird. She let the light and heat of her magic seep into Olivia’s body, healing as it went.
Theo watched intently as a pale lavender glow pulsed softly beneath Isabel’s hand. Slowly the bruising on Olivia’s face began to fade and the swelling recede, until her face was once again it’s normal shape. The split in her lip knitted itself back together, leaving her lips soft and full with no scarring. He was unable to see what was happening to the rest of her body beneath the layers of heavy clothing but her flushed skin was once again a beautiful creamy color instead of ashen grey and her breathing had changed from shallow and labored to deep relaxed measured breaths and so he could only imagine her body was being healed the same way her face was.
Isabel’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise and she frowned. She pulled in a deeper breath and seemed to be concentrating even harder on something. The light beneath her palm pulsed brighter and then suddenly dimmed. Isabel pulled back breathing heavily as Olivia’s eyes fluttered open.
Her gaze landed first on Theo, her brow furrowing slightly when she realized it wasn’t his lap she was laying in. Turning her head her eyes widened in shock at the sight of her mother. Reacting instinctively, she sat bolt upright even more confused when she realized all the agony in her body was gone. The pain in her shoulder was no longer there, the same with her leg. She no longer felt the bone weary fatigue and sickness which seemed to have plagued her for weeks. She looked down at her hand and flexed it slowly. It didn’t hurt anymore. Pulling off the layers of linen strips which had been holding her broken hand together she looked down at the unmarred skin. Her bones were once again whole and perfect, there wasn’t even any slight bruising and she even had all her fingernails back. Flexing her fingers once again just to be sure, she looked up at her mother and then across to Theo.
‘What the hell is going on?’
‘I’ll tell you what’s going on,’ Isabel replied irritably as she climbed to her feet and brushed off her skirt, ‘you two let Nathaniel loose and now we have a big… big problem on our hands.’
‘We let Nathaniel loose?’ Olivia’s eyes widened incredulously as her voice climbed an octave in disbelief, ‘that’s a bit rich coming from the woman who broke him out of the devil’s trap in the first place.’
The
o stood quietly, reaching down to help Olivia stand. Although her attention was fixed on her mother she kept her hand firmly in his.
‘I had him under control for as long as he remained inside the human body,’ she replied as she climbed over the wreckage of the tree and dropped down the other side.
‘Well clearly you didn’t,’ Olivia and Theo followed her over the fractured tree.
‘We really don’t have time to play the blame game here Olivia’ Isabel sighed, ‘as I said we’ve got a bigger problem.’
‘Bigger than the fact you’re a psychotic killer who let a demon loose?’ she replied sarcastically.
‘You must realize by now that Nathaniel is going to go after Hester and Bridget?’ Isabel answered calmly, ignoring the insult.
‘Which we’ll deal with,’ Olivia scowled. ‘I’m getting used to cleaning up your mess.’
‘It’s really not as simple as that.’
‘What do you mean?’ Theo asked suspiciously.
‘I mean Nathaniel has broken loose and is in his natural form.’
‘Yeah we know,’ Olivia rolled her eyes. ‘Believe me I’ve been up close and personal with the other version of him.’
‘Where is the other one?’ Isabel suddenly asked.
‘We don’t know’ Theo shrugged, ‘he disappeared after his house burned.’
‘Well,’ Isabel mused, ‘let’s not borrow more trouble than we need to. If he’s disappeared let’s just leave him to it. We’ve got more trouble than we can handle without going after him too. I’m sure he’ll resurface sooner or later like he did the first time around and then Hester can snare him in the devil’s trap as she’s supposed to. For now, let’s just concentrate on stopping this Nathaniel before he gets to Hester.’
‘What’s all this WE, business?’ Olivia snapped. ‘There is no WE, there’s me and Theo and then there’s you.’
‘Don’t be so childish Olivia,’ Isabel hissed waspishly, ‘you can’t do this on your own. I know how powerful you are, I sensed it when I healed you but I also know it’s untapped and undisciplined. You may have the firepower but you don’t have the knowledge or skills to take Nathaniel down. Only I can.’
‘I held my own against him back at his house. Even tortured and wounded I still managed to light him up with Witch fire and I know damn well that hurt him.’
‘It may have done’ she replied testily, ‘but that was the old Nathaniel. This one is something entirely different.’
‘What do you mean, different?’ Theo demanded. ‘He should be the same, after he broke free of the mortal body he reverted to his natural form.’
‘Yes,’ Isabel sighed trying to find her patience, ‘but this is the super turbo charged version of him.’
‘Ohhh,’ Olivia’s eyes suddenly widened in understanding, ‘he ingested a human soul.’
Isabel nodded.
‘There is nothing more powerful in this world than a human soul, right now he’s amped up to the roof. It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than Witch fire to take him down.’
‘And you think you’re the one to do it?’ Olivia scoffed.
‘I don’t know,’ Isabel answered honestly, ‘I forced him into that body for a reason. I never expected to have to go up against him in his natural form, especially one that has been supercharged. The best I can hope for is to get him away from the children.’
‘And you’re just doing that out of the goodness of your heart right?’ Olivia replied in disgust. ‘You seriously expect us to just trust you, after everything you’ve done? You expect me to let you anywhere near Hester and Bridget, where you can find out the location of the Hell book? After all, that’s all you care about isn’t it? All of this…healing me, trying to gain my trust is just part of some larger manipulation to get your hands on Infernum.’
‘You want to believe it’s all about the book?’ Isabel snapped.
‘Isn’t it?’ Olivia shouted back.
Isabel drew back, her eyes livid and her jaw tensed.
‘Fine’ she replied tightly, ‘believe what you want, but right now nothing is more important than Hester’s survival. If Nathaniel gets his hands on the girls he will wring the location of the book from them and once he has what he wants he will kill them both. Need I remind you that if Hester dies, both you and I will never be born.’
Olivia stood silently as she stared at her mother in fury.
‘If you can’t trust any other motive from me, then at least trust in my desire for my own self-preservation.’
‘Olivia,’ Theo muttered reluctantly, ‘I don’t want to admit it but we need to protect Hester at all costs and we stand a better chance with her powers added to your own.’
‘Well at least one of you is thinking straight,’ Isabel murmured.
Olivia glared at her mother murderously, sick to her stomach and knowing that she was backed into a corner.
‘Don’t think for one second that healing me cancels out everything you’ve done,’ Olivia told her coldly. ‘This doesn’t even come close to making us even.’
‘No Olivia,’ Isabel smiled slowly, ‘what this makes us is partners…’
Chapter 22.
Olivia crouched down silently, fighting the urge to roll her eyes when her mother ducked down next to her.
‘Can you see him?’ Isabel whispered.
‘No,’ she snapped, ‘it’s dark.’
‘I can see you’re not going to make this easy are you?’ Isabel replied.
‘Why the hell should I make this easy on you?’ she turned to her mother, her eyes blazing in anger. ‘You killed innocent men to raise Nathaniel and then you let him kill Abigail and those are just the ones I know about. How many people have you killed Mom? How many have had to die in your pursuit of this obsession?’
‘You wouldn’t understand Olivia,’ she answered quietly.
‘No you’re right, I don’t understand,’ she turned back to watch out for Theo, ‘and I don’t want to. Do no harm…our most basic principle, the very core of who we are and the first thing you ever taught me or have you forgotten?’
‘I’ve forgotten nothing.’
‘But you conveniently ignore it when it suits your purpose.’
With Isabel not willing to respond they settled into a tense silence. When they’d emerged from the woods they’d headed for the nearest farm. Knowing that Logan was going to head straight for the Beckett farm with the two West girls, they had to get there quickly. With Nathaniel going after them they knew that the only chance they had of making it in time was to steal some horses. Olivia knew her mother could ride, she remembered seeing photos of her astride her horse as a child and although Isabel had offered to accompany Theo, sneaking into the stables to saddle a couple of horses for them, he’d declined. He didn’t trust her, that much was painfully obvious but strangely he also seemed convinced she wouldn’t harm her daughter.
Olivia seriously doubted that. She’d done nothing but hurt her since she was eight years old. It wasn’t only the physical trauma but the emotional pain that left scars and she’d had plenty of both, courtesy of her mother. In fact, her shoulder still bore the scar from the bullet wound she’d received from Isabel the night Nathaniel had been raised from the devil’s trap.
‘Was it worth it?’ Olivia asked suddenly.
‘What?’
‘Whatever it cost you at the Crossroad,’ she replied quietly. ‘The price you paid for your power.’
‘You know nothing of cost,’ Isabel answered coldly.
‘Maybe’ Olivia conceded, ‘but I do know I would never have abandoned my child and my husband to chase a myth.’
‘It’s not a myth,’ Isabel replied, ‘it’s my birthright.’
‘Is that all that matters to you?’ Olivia asked softly, ‘a tale that has been passed down our family for generations? How do you know it’s even real? The knowledge has passed from daughter to daughter but what of the actual book. When was the last t
ime one of our bloodline actually, physically, held it in their hands?’
Isabel watched Olivia carefully, her brow marred by a tiny frown.
‘Hester knows where the book is.’
‘Does she?’ Olivia replied, ‘or has she just been told a bedtime story like the rest of us? If Abigail had it in her possession do you really think she’d leave and not take it with her? She couldn’t because she never had the book, none of them did. It’s just a story, that’s all it ever was.’
‘It’s not,’ Isabel hissed. ‘I wouldn’t expect you to understand, you’re not a believer, you have no faith.’
‘I do have faith,’ Olivia answered. ‘I have faith in what I can see, I have faith in what I can touch, I have faith in the people I love.’
‘A waste of time’ Isabel scoffed, ‘they will only let you down.’
‘Like you did?’
‘You were too young to understand,’ Isabel shook her head.
‘I’m not anymore’ she replied, ‘so explain it to me now.’
‘Olivia,’ she breathed, ‘you can’t possibly know what it was like for me to be born into this family. The weight of expectation…of our legacy. It’s the first thing we’re taught, our sacred duty to the book.’
‘But you didn’t want to protect it, you wanted to use its power. The one thing that was forbidden to us.’
‘Not at first,’ she shook her head, ‘all I wanted was to be worthy. I thought it was such a great honor to be chosen to protect it. I was so full of foolish noble ideals such as honor, duty and loyalty.’
‘So what changed?’
‘Nothing changed, that was the problem. I wasn’t good enough, the runt of the litter, born with barely any magical powers. Did you know mama tried to get pregnant again?’
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 148
