“Don’t,” Logan commanded.
“I’ve got this,” I replied, moving ever so slowly. The dog began snapping at the air but didn’t move toward me. I slid one foot in front of me, attempting to judge the beast’s next move.
“Triss,” Logan warned.
The floor began shaking, tumbling the cabinets and bookcases to the ground. I backed against the wall for balance, away from the dog. The distance between us felt like it was growing with every passing second, but I didn’t dare try to pass the snapping beast with the floor moving. I’d probably fall right into its gaping mouth.
A scream echoed in the room and my eyes shot toward the sound. It was coming from the paintings. The demons and ghouls began coming to life, swirling in all directions. I felt like we were in a fun house made of nightmares. The screeching of the painted underworld began bouncing off the walls as my pulse raced, carrying fear to every part of my body. What was going on?
The door opened and the housekeeper was shoved inside, and the door quickly closed. I waited for her to say something, but she crumpled to the ground, sobbing. I looked over at Logan who was beginning to slide along the wall toward me. We needed to stay together. As he slinked along the wall, the ceiling opened up, dumping fog into the room. The old woman continued to sob as the beasts in the paintings taunted her.
“What’s he pumping in here?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe a sleep agent? I just don’t know,” Logan replied, glancing at the woman on the floor. “But we need to get out of here.”
Logan reached for my hand and I let him grab it. Closing my eyes, I tried to connect with the woman’s spirit. My mind searched for her energy, her spiritual pull. I grabbed and grabbed for it, but nothing was returned. My eyes flashed open and I turned quickly to face Logan.
“Something’s really wrong here,” I whispered.
“Thank you for that Captain obvious,” he said, furrowing a brow in confusion.
I shook my head and frowned at him.
“No I mean beyond the obvious,” I channeled to him. “Why is everything only getting so close but not coming all the way?”
Logan nodded at me, and we began moving toward the woman. The fog was thicker and the screams louder, but they seemed distant. Everything seemed distant. The beast continued snarling and snapping at us, but didn’t lunge any closer as we skirted by it. Once we made it to the woman, I knelt down to speak to her. She turned to face me and her eyes were hollow caverns. She wasn’t the same woman who greeted us. I stepped back quickly, but not before her body began dissipating into the fog.
“Bingo,” I channeled to Logan.
I jabbed at the beast in front of us. It quickly backed up and began growling. I lashed out at it once more, this time connecting with where it should have been. The dog squealed and cowered in front of me, but my hand went through it. The beast didn’t attack because it couldn’t. I watched in shock as the walls shook only as far as I let them. I was controlling everything in here. My fears were coming to life inside these walls, but it was all imagined. I’d had control over everything in here the entire time.
“It’s me controlling everything. Watch,” I channeled.
I lunged at the beast and went through it landing on the floor with a thud. The window shattered behind the desk as the beast continued to whimper. I glanced at the artwork and changed it from the devils dancing to something completely innocuous, an ocean’s waves rolling onto a shore.
Logan ran through the beast and helped me up.
“Let’s get out the window, now,” Logan said, pulling me through the office.
Nothing inside these walls had been real. It had all been fabricated from my own fears. I’d let Ethan in, and now I had to make sure I forced him out. A shiver ran through my spine as Logan pushed me through the window. I jumped to the ground and watched Logan climb out and fall to the grass.
He stood up and grabbed my hand, hauling me in the direction that we came earlier in the evening. I ran as fast as I could, my body almost flying, as Logan led the way. We passed the narrow, brick doghouses, and a shudder ran through me as the dogs barked and howled at us.
“At least we know where you got the images,” Logan yelled.
“True,” I said, looking behind me, noticing no one was following us.
We reached the elaborate maze of fencing and my stomach knotted. We were falling right into Ethan’s trap, but it was the only way out of here. The fence around the rest of the property was electrified, and we’d surely get electrocuted. I really wasn’t up for that the way my night was going.
Logan released my hand and we stepped inside the fencing. We followed the pathway from earlier in the evening and got about a quarter through the maze when the fencing began sliding and shuffling positions. We both knew it was only a matter of time.
“To the right,” Logan said.
We quickly jogged along the fence, taking another right and hit a dead end.
“Not good,” I whispered, backing out of our predicament.
“Let’s take a left at that first jag out. I don’t think I see a dead end that way,” I said. Even though the fencing was chain-link, and I could see through it, it was impossible to actually see where any of the exits led. It was one big optical illusion.
“I’ll follow you,” Logan said, right on my heels.
I ran quickly back up the fencing, hoping to reach the opening before the fence shifted again, and we made it. I turned into the new section and reached for Logan’s hand, pulling him with me as we attempted to escape. I could see where we needed to be. I just couldn’t figure out how to get there.
The loud scraping of metal began, and my heart sank as the fences moved again.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered, stopping as our exit was blocked once more.
“We can’t climb it either. Everything is electrified,” Logan said, his hands shooting to the sky.
“We’ve gotta think outside of the box. We must trick the system somehow. I’m sure we’re on surveillance, and he’ll just keep messing with us.”
The clank of the fence as it seated itself in its new position gave me an idea. I glanced at Logan and wiggled my fingertips. Kneeling, I looked at the track that the fence traveled along and realized that could be the very way we fool the system.
The dogs in the distance were becoming more restless. Something was stirring them.
“Let’s work our way more toward the center,” I whispered. “And we’ll try to jam the system as we go. We’ll plot our own course.”
“How do you plan on doing that?” he asked, his brow arching.
“You’ll see,” I said, taking off along the way we came in. “I only wish the spotlights weren’t lighting the place up.”
After a few wrong turns, we made it to a center point, and I saw the perfect junction to begin tampering with.
“Hover over me,” I said, kneeling down.
Logan bent at his waist, covering me as best as he could. The dogs began yipping louder.
“Please tell me they weren’t just released,” I whispered.
“Then I’d be lying to you,” Logan muttered.
My fingertips began cooling, and the metal began pooling at the tips. I let the metal fall from my fingers, drop by drop.
“God, I wish this would happen faster,” I said, looking at Logan.
“You’re doing the best you can,” Logan said. “And it was an awesome idea.”
The track began pooling over with the liquid metal that I released from my fingers.
“Let’s get to the next spot,” I said, walking quickly to the next section of fencing.
“Looks like it’s hardening,” Logan said, beaming. “Nice work.”
I knelt back down and let my fingertips pour the liquid into the crevices, but my hands were trembling as I heard the snarls and barks of the dogs. I looked through the fencing and didn’t see the dogs yet, but I heard them.
Jumping up, I rounded the corner and shot the me
tal toward the tracks just as the fencing began to move again; only this time the fence around us didn’t budge.
“Think we’re onto something,” I whispered.
“I’m impressed,” he whispered.
I turned toward Logan, and my heart dropped as I saw the beasts lining up behind him. Now there was only one fence between them and us.
“Gotta work faster,” I whispered.
He glanced behind him and took a step toward me. The dogs balanced on their hind legs as they jumped into the fence. Their paws clung to the metal, the pads of their feet squishing into the pattern of the chain-link, as their gaping mouths revealed ivory teeth, ready to snap at us.
“Too bad these aren’t apparitions,” I said, continuing my assault on the fence tracks.
The grinding of the motor continued, but the fencing remained still.
“Over there looks to be a way out. I don’t see any dead ends,” Logan said, pointing.
I followed him quickly through the corridors of fencing, lodging metal into the tracks when I could, when the huge spotlights suddenly banged off, and it turned dark.
“Run, my little witch…run,” Ethan yelled over a speaker system as his laughter took over.
“Oh, no,” I whispered, unable to see where I was going.
“This might work to our advantage. We’re close to getting out.”
“Yeah, but we can’t see and might wind up back where we were,” I replied. “I’ll light the way.”
“Don’t. If he sees a little light wandering around, he’ll beeline right toward us.”
A loud chime rang into the cold night air as Logan and I felt along the fencing, trying to make all the right turns to get out. The ocean waves sounded closer than the barks from the dogs. We might actually have a shot at getting out of here. Logan stopped and my fingers traced over the corner post of the fencing. I could make out three different openings in front of us, but I wasn’t sure if any of them would actually lead us out of here. The chime rang again, but this time I heard gates crashing open as the dogs found a way out.
“Triss, now,” Logan commanded, grabbing my hand as we bolted toward the center opening.
Running as quickly as we could, we made it through the opening into what would hopefully be our way out of here.
Our proximity to the waves told me we were getting close. We had to be getting close…But I still couldn’t let my guard down. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness only slightly, so seeing fencing past a yard or so wasn’t happening, but it looked like we only had one more set of links keeping us in.
“Getting close,” Logan said, hauling me through the long section.
The dogs were running all over the place, spreading out in every direction. It didn’t sound like a pack of them prowling, just individuals now. The thought of only being mauled by one versus many did little to calm my fears. They were still in the main part of the maze, hopefully getting as lost as we did.
“I think we made it,” Logan said.
Instead of staring at the wall of fencing we were passing, I looked up just as Logan slowed down, and that’s when we both realized we had picked wrong.
“I’d set the place on fire, if I thought it would do a bit of good,” I whispered, choking down the wave of desperation.
“I know, babe,” Logan replied, his voice confident.
And then it hit me. The ocean.
“I don’t know if it’s possible, and I’ve never tried to tap into something so far away, but….” I clung to the fence and peered toward the cliff. It just might work.
“I like where you’re going with that idea,” Logan smiled. “I’ll keep you as protected as I can while you channel the energy, and we’ll try to wash it all away.”
“Let’s just hope we don’t wash away too,” I whispered.
Logan began chanting as a slight hum of protection began to bubble around us in our corner. His eyes were closed as he recited the incantation, and I felt a charge of hope.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the crashing waves below us. With each roar of a wave as it collided with the rocks below, I pictured the ocean’s froth and energy rippling back into itself. Harnessing the forces of the ocean, I felt the dampness appear along my flesh. The chill of the wind, as it pricked my moist skin, caused a sense of hope while I tapped into this element of the earth. I pictured a tornado of currents gathering down below. Perched on this high cliff, we would need a massive amount of height for the waves to reach us. I felt my body sway with the movements of the waves below, locking into the forces of the violent ocean. The rumble of the sea changed as I imagined the seawater twisting itself up over the cliff. I could feel the water coming. The ocean was on its way.
“Hold on. Hold onto the fence,” I yelled to Logan as the wind picked up. “It’s coming.”
I locked my fingers through the fence, gripping the metal tightly until my fingers ached with pain because my life depended on it. Logan came up behind me and pressed his body against me, looping his fingers with mine.
“This is going to work,” he said, his face pressing against my hair. I felt his body tense as he attempted to lock himself over me like a shield.
I continued focusing on the sea’s power, and the roar of the waves intensified but so did the growls of the predators.
“It’s coming.” I tightened my grip on the fence as I saw a wall of water barreling toward us. “They won’t know what hit em.”
I heard Logan take a deep breath at the same time as me and within seconds the water hit us like a freight train. Pain shot through me as the water slammed into us. The waves whipped around me so fiercely I couldn’t tell if Logan was still wrapped around me. I knew I was holding onto the fence, but that’s all I knew. The adrenaline surging through my body made the desire for oxygen non-existent. As the pressure of the water stabilized around me, I felt my body floating. The initial surge had done its job.
“I’m right here with you,” Logan channeled.
The water wasn’t separating us any longer as he pulled himself closer into me. My heart started pounding as the need for oxygen overruled the adrenaline rush. I needed air, but I didn’t want to panic.
I focused on the water surrounding us, imagining the beasts captured by the waves and began slowly letting out the air in my lungs. Calling the water back to the sea, I felt the current change around us. The ocean was claiming its force as the water around us began dissipating. My lungs burned with anticipation as I dreamed of taking that first breath. The last air bubble escaped from my lips, and my head began to spin. I could feel the force in the water change but not fast enough.
“I need air,” I channeled and just when I thought it might be too late, Logan ripped me from the fence, lifting me above his head. He was able to stand as the water ran by us. It had receded enough, and since he was only a head or so higher than me, he’d gotten to the glorious night air first.
I gasped for my first breath of air as I blinked my eyes quickly trying to flush the sting of the seawater out.
“You did it,” Logan said as the water spilled back over the cliff.
I quickly lit my wand and saw a few of the bodies scattered around. The others must have been swept out to sea.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, sliding down his body, hitting the ground. My legs gave out, and I crumpled to the earth. I didn’t expect to be so weak. Waterlogged wasn’t even the word for how I felt, but whatever the feeling was, I seemed to be moving at about half-speed as I tried to stand up again. Logan was attempting to get me on my feet when I heard something coming toward us.
“What’s that noise?”
“Footsteps,” Logan whispered.
“Not so fast,” Ethan’s voice commanded. His steps drew closer as we huddled in the maze.
“You are far too valuable for me to let you escape,” Ethan said. “I can’t thank you enough for showing me that before I made my final decision.”
“And what decision was that?” I asked, leaning again
st Logan.
“To kill you both. Now, I only need to kill one of you,” he replied.
We were dealing with a mad man.
***
The shot of current left Logan’s hand before it even had a chance to register. I heard the crack as the first current missed Ethan and connected with the fence behind him. Logan threw another shot of electricity, this time nailing Ethan to the fence. Ethan flashed a wicked smile before he vanished right before our eyes.
I stepped away from the fence and watched as Logan slowly moved his hands through the air. He was in a trance of sorts, looking beyond the here and now. He darted to the left suddenly, and I watched as his hand wrapped around something. Ethan’s arm began to surface as Logan gripped it firmly, their flesh becoming one.
“Your evasion spells will never work around me,” Logan seethed.
“I only know of one other person who knew them,” Ethan hissed, his lips twisting into a frown. “And he’s dead.”
My blood froze. He was talking about my father.
“Well, I was his best student,” Logan replied. “Apparently your secrets weren’t safe with him.”
Ethan’s body became visible within seconds. “Let’s see what else his best pupil knows.”
His free arm waved to the sky creating an invitation. I looked up to see a swarm in the blackened night. It expanded in size with every wave of his hand. I couldn’t see what the creatures were, but something told me that I wouldn’t recognize them even if I saw them.
“Triss,” Logan directed.
“Will do,” I responded, watching the swarm begin to cyclone toward Logan.
The warmth in my palms ignited, and I blasted a line of flames upward. Ethan gasped as the fire ignited in the sky, dropping his creatures to the ground. Logan quickly backed away.
Ethan’s eyes fell on me as he took a step forward.
“Don’t even think about it,” Logan said through gritted teeth.
I felt a shift in my thinking. My thoughts were off-balance. I looked into Ethan’s eyes and realized he was doing exactly what I’d been warned about. He was trying to invade my mind. This was no longer a physical battle. I didn’t know if I was ready for it, but I had no choice. I’d rather let him in on my terms.
Witch Avenue Series (The Complete Set) Page 78
