“Triss, wait.”
Logan placed the vial meant to help Trevor on the coffee table and glided over to me. His eyes said it all as he picked me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck, while still holding onto the jar. The strength from his embrace gave me the last amount of courage I needed to get this process over with. I needed this support. I wasn’t used to it completely, but I did enjoy it.
“I love you, Triss,” he whispered, nuzzling my neck.
“I love you too,” I said, as he released me back to the floor.
“You’re not going to turn out like what’s-his-face over there,” Logan’s lip curled slightly. “You have a pure heart.”
“I don’t know about that, but thanks,” I said.
Shoving him playfully, I tried to distract myself from the fear that was beginning to take over.
I reached up to the dried flowers I had hung on the wall and traced the crispness of the leaves feeling how fragile they had become. Lifting a tied bunch of lavender off the wall, I crushed it in my hand as I started back down the hall. I would take any sort of calming attributes that I could get.
“I’ll be in as soon as I take care of our patient.”
“Thanks,” I replied, hoping the smile I plastered on my lips would make me feel less nervous, but it didn’t.
I walked into the bedroom. The sun was setting and only a few rays of daylight were making their way into the room, but I didn’t want the light on. I wasn’t sure I wanted Logan to see the process unfold that clearly because I certainly didn’t. The idea of a spider crawling on me in this set of circumstances was really creepy. It’s one thing if a spider lands on me. It’s quite another to think that I’ve stirred up a recipe to have this spider sink its teeth into me.
Besides, I wanted to think that the process would finish before the evening made its full appearance. Shaking the jar lightly to ensure that the spider was still with me, I took a deep breath and spread myself out on the bed. My hand landed on the pillow with a gentle thud as I stared at the ceiling. I began letting my eyes trace the tiny cracks in the exposed cedar. Unfortunately the ceiling wasn’t that riveting, and I switched my focus to the task at hand. The images of Trevor drooling in temporary paralysis made their way into my mind, attempting to hijack any calmness I’d started to experience.
Squeezing my eyes closed and quickly releasing my lids back open, I knew the time had come. Letting out a deep breath, I shook the contents of the jar onto my chest and recited softly, “Adducam Imagines Velle Captivum Animum.” Then I waited.
Feeling nothing from the spider at first, I fought the need to fidget, and I attempted to maneuver my eyes to see the spider on my chest without moving my body. I hoped I wasn’t too late – that the spider could do what it was cast to do. Just as I thought I couldn’t stand it anymore, I felt the crawling sensation on my neck. With each leg movement, a tickle from the arachnid’s many legs caused a sense of panic. My heart was pounding and the flush of fear started spreading through me. Trying to steady my breathing, I thought about Logan, hoping that that the images of him would distract me. Instead, it made me more anxious worrying about him out there with Trevor, which was completely irrational because Trevor was completely out of it.
The hall light flashed on alerting me to Logan’s presence just as the spider sunk its fangs into my flesh. Rising up from the bed, I released a howl carrying the pain of the poisoned memories that were being transmitted through my system. Logan rushed to my side, but there was nothing he could do. My body fell limp against the mattress, and the room began spinning. The burning was centralized at first, but the sensation quickly changed to a web of pain in every extremity, darting back and forth. I was immediately freezing — shaking uncontrollably. I grabbed for the blue chenille blanket but had to let go as the pain paralyzed my fingers.
Logan grabbed my right hand as scream after scream echoed off the walls in the bedroom. There were no images flooding my mind; no comments from my father to Trevor; no information on why mom left me. Was I going through all of this for nothing?
My body squirmed and contorted into positions I didn’t think possible despite my best efforts at controlling it. Logan’s fingers combed through my hair. I tried keeping my eyes on him as my body writhed in agony. He was my center, but now even he was getting blurry. It was like I was in the state between dreaming and waking up. Nothing was clear, but everything was vivid. The feelings and emotions were all at surface level waiting to escape, but none of them came together to create anything tangible.
The sun had made its complete finale for the day making the light from the hallway hurt my eyes. I wanted to tell Logan, but I was afraid I might need my strength for something else. The temperature in the room turned quickly from ice-cold to overly hot. The already small room was closing in on me from all sides, and my mind was getting too tired to fight the pain much longer.
“You’re gonna be okay, baby,” Logan said, wiping away the sweat that began forming at my hairline.
My entire body was burning up and my mouth was so dry I thought my tongue was twice its normal size.
“Help me,” I whimpered, looking into Logan’s eyes.
“The worst is almost over,” Logan brought his lips down to mine and softly kissed me. “We’ll get through this. I’m not leaving your side.”
One last shot of pain ran down my spine as the world I called my own turned to darkness.
***
“There isn’t anything we can do until she wakes up, Trevor. You need to leave her alone,” Logan said.
I’m up! I’m up. I can hear you. I just can’t move, but I’m here.
“I promised her you wouldn’t be here when she woke up, and you managed to make me break that promise,” Logan snarled. “And now I can’t get you out of here because I know she’s about to wake up. You did this on purpose.”
“You wanna blame me for that?” Trevor asked. “Do you think I enjoyed the state I was in?”
“Get out of her room,” Logan said, seething with anger. “I’m warning you.”
Footsteps were coming closer to the bed, but I didn’t know whose they were. Oh no! It’s starting again. I don’t want to sleep again. I’ve got to stay up.
“Or what?” Trevor asked.
A hand landed on my arm. I wanted to pull away, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t Logan. I wanted Logan.
“You know, don’t you?” Logan asked accusingly.
Know what? What was Logan talking about?
“Oh, you mean about that little caveat on the spell you two performed on me? Yeah, I know about it,” Trevor replied coyly. “Doesn’t Triss?”
“Get out of here!” Logan yelled before a tumble of two bodies hit the floor.
Someone slammed against the dresser and fell to the floor. Was it Trevor or Logan? Another crash sounded behind me and then there was silence.
I’ve got to open my eyes. I’ve got to open my eyes.
I barely heard the shoes struggling along the floor when I realized someone was being dragged out of my room, and I didn’t know which of the somebodies it was.
My spirit was heavy. It was happening again. Sleep was calling, but I couldn’t afford it. Not now. I had already learned enough. I didn’t want to see any more, but it was too late.
My father was holding my mother in his arms, as she sat so content on his lap. They were all seated around a large dining table that could easily seat twenty. There were strangers in every direction I looked. The cherry wood paneling was covering all four walls from floor to ceiling. The chandelier in this one room wouldn’t fit in the entire first floor of our Seattle home. Everything I saw seemed far too grand compared to what I was used to. It was actually quite ridiculous. Looking out the window behind my father, the surface of the lake glistened with a brilliance that rivaled Puget Sound.
The joyful laughter coming from my mother did nothing but cause me confusion. That wasn’t her…or was it? How could she so easily forget me and so easily fall back in the arms o
f a betrayer?
“Well, Trevor,” my father’s voice boomed, “you could have this, too, with Triss.”
My father squeezed my mother tighter, and she nestled his neck.
“Yes, sir,” Trevor replied delighted.
“It’s in your blood, isn’t it? The draw you have to my daughter?” my father continued.
“It is, sir. I couldn’t imagine life without her,” Trevor said.
“No need to call me sir any longer.” My father wore a brilliant smile. “Nicholas is just fine. You’re almost family now, after all.”
“We’re getting close. I need my family back together, and my daughter needs someone to love just as her mother loves me.” My father’s smile was wicked. Trevor didn’t have a chance.
I wanted to escape from this surreal world that I had borrowed from Trevor, but I couldn’t. Not yet anyway.
“My daughter’s got some pretty important talents that need to be developed. As she’s grown older, they’ve become more apparent. I think with the right training, she could help change the face of witchcraft for everyone. Make it more…” he paused, “…acceptable.”
A murmur grew from the crowd of strangers sitting around the table. An excitement filled the air that I couldn’t understand.
“Absolutely, master,” one of the men spoke up. I looked at the male who spoke and saw a vacancy in his spirit. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but as I scanned from one person to the next, they all seemed to carry that same expression.
My eyes darted back to my father. He certainly had a charisma surrounding him, but there was more to it than that. He seemed to be the only one who carried any sort of vitality. It was as if he was feeding off these people.
“Don’t be frightened, Trevor. This isn’t mind control in the normal sense,” my father said, as if he could sniff out Trevor’s possible apprehension. “You have complete control over what you actually do. There’s no such thing as brainwashing. That’s a myth. What I can do for you is give you the tools to tap into my arsenal of experience. The only thing I ask in return is for you to trust me.”
The room was silenced with my father’s statement. They were all waiting for Trevor’s reply.
“I’ll get your daughter for you, Nicholas. But I’ve got some terms of my own.”
“You do?” My father seemed pleased at Trevor’s feeble attempt at negotiating. I’m sure my father had no intention of actually granting Trevor anything, but I don’t think Trevor was smart enough to figure that out.
“I want your permission to destroy Logan,” Trevor replied.
My mother bolted upright. She recognized on some level what Trevor’s statement meant, who he was referring to — her best friend’s son. But I wasn’t sure she was strong enough to debate it.
“Nicholas, I won’t allow it,” my mother found her voice. “There’s no need for that.”
She began removing herself from my father’s lap in protest, but my father was too calculating to allow that to happen.
“Absolutely not, Trevor. Logan’s not to be touched.”
Relief started flooding through me. My father didn’t give a directive on Logan.
“I apologize, but I think that it would make it much easier for your grand scheme if I eliminated him,” Trevor said. I could detect a slight tremble in his voice, but that was only because I knew what he used to sound like in school when he got worked up.
The room filled with whispers and judging by my father’s expression, he wasn’t used to being spoken to in the manner that Trevor was attempting.
“You trained him, Nicholas. You know what he’s capable of,” Trevor continued.
My mother craned her neck and glared at Trevor for a few moments before speaking.
“You will not touch him,” my mother’s voice was as cold as ice. “His mother is supposed to come up to our camp at the lake.” She turned back to my father. “You promised. If something happens to her son, she won’t come.”
That’s it? That’s why my mother’s concerned? I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This was not the woman who raised me. My mother was pouting because her potential playmate might not want to come to the lake retreat if her son was killed. She’s not fighting for Logan’s life, but rather so hers would be more fun.
“You heard my wife, Trevor. I’m sorry,” my father replied, winking at Trevor.
“That I did,” Trevor said nodding.
I wanted to run away, but I’m the one who put myself in this position to see and hear everything.
My head was pounding and my eyes felt bruised, but I had to open them. I had to force them open to begin my real life again. I physically couldn’t stomach any more visions from Trevor. Between what I had learned from earlier and this, I knew enough to know we were all in trouble. I wanted no more. I wanted to escape.
My body was rocking back and forth. It felt like I was on one of the roughest seas imaginable with no land in sight. I wanted out of this spell. I could no longer allow myself to be trapped in Trevor’s mind.
“Hun, you’re okay.”
My eyes flashed open to reveal Trevor staring back at me.
***
The room was completely dark except for the light from the hall that trickled in. The covers were mashed at the bottom of the bed, presumably from my nightmares.
“Where’s Logan?” I asked, backing myself away from Trevor. “Where is he?”
“It’s okay, hun.”
“It’s not okay and don’t call me hun,” I snapped. “Where is Logan?”
I wasn’t sure I felt strong enough to get up and stay up, but the fear of being alone with Trevor would surely push me through whatever weakness my body might present.
“He’s a little out of sorts at the moment,” Trevor said sardonically.
“What did you do to him?” I demanded, starting to sit up.
“Nothing. I didn’t do a thing to him. I swear.”
“You’re lying. He’d be here if you hadn’t done something to him.”
Trevor put his hands up and shrugged his shoulders.
“Believe me or not.”
Scooting down to the end of the bed as far from Trevor as I could get, I let my feet fall down the side of the bed. I needed to find Logan. Standing up slowly, it felt as if a tidal wave was attempting to hijack my stability. The room started spinning and Trevor only smiled, knowing full well what I was feeling.
“Stay away from me,” I ordered. I didn’t care if I collapsed on my way to find Logan. I wanted nothing to do with Trevor, especially after seeing what he told my father.
“Not a problem, doll,” he replied. “I’ll give you all the time you need.”
Apparently my father’s tentacles were in far too deep to worry about whether Trevor had any good qualities worth saving, but why would he let us do the spell?
Focusing on the light outside of the bedroom, I lifted one leg and felt its weight plop in front of me as I managed to repeat the steps several times before I had to lean against the wall. I still couldn’t see into the family room, and with the heaviness of my extremities, I knew it would be a challenge to even make it there, but I had to find Logan. I had to press forward.
Looking behind me, light filtered onto Trevor’s features highlighting a swollen lip and red cheek. His smugness shined as he watched me struggle with every step. At least with whatever scuffle I heard earlier he didn’t remain unscathed. I hoped with every ounce of strength that Logan was okay, but if he was all right wouldn’t he be here for me?
“Logan?” I called but only silence was returned.
“I doubt he’ll be able to hear you.”
Turning back toward Trevor, I couldn’t hide my rage.
“Why is that?” My head started spinning as the words tumbled out.
Realizing Trevor had no intention of telling me much of anything, I turned my attention back to the hallway. Gliding my hand across the wall for support, I scanned the space in front of me — empty.
The two via
ls that Logan had used on Trevor were still on the coffee table. And to think that I actually tried to make his discomfort go away seemed unbelievable.
Feeling like I had conquered a climb on Mount Kilimanjaro, I rested my body against the couch. There was no sign of Logan anywhere. No sign of a struggle. In fact, the kitchen had a couple of plates with sandwich crumbs. Nothing I awoke to was making sense. The thought of being stuck alone with Trevor at the cottage made the situation feel even more dire. If I could get out the front door and to some fresh air, maybe some of my strength would return and hopefully some of my senses.
Scuffling to the wooden door, I began to hear voices outside and stopped to listen.
“I don’t know what I’ll do if she goes to him,” Logan said. The sadness in every syllable radiated through the thick wooden door.
“Is that why you left her alone in there?” a woman’s voice asked. “To save yourself from your own emotional anguish?”
“I guess,” he paused. “Yeah, I guess it is. I’d rather it just happen right away so I’d know what to expect going forward. The thought of them being together makes me sick.”
What was Logan talking about? Why would I suddenly go to Trevor? And who else was at our cottage? I wished I wasn’t so foggy.
I continued squashing my ear to the wooden door hoping for some clarity and partially using the structure as a support.
“Did she know of the possible side effects?” the woman asked.
It’s Aunt Vieta! What was she doing here?
“No. It was in Latin, and I knew she’d do the spell no matter what. I kinda thought I’d better my chances if she didn’t know of the possibility. I didn’t want to place anything in her mind right before she went under.”
“And you’re worried that at some point she had feelings for Trevor?” Aunt Vieta asked.
My eyes landed on a bouquet of daisies that were by the sink. I wondered if Logan had intended those for me. Why wouldn’t he have brought them to me? Why wasn’t he sitting there with me?
Witch Avenue Series (The Complete Set) Page 26
