“Really?” Celestina asked. “You’re really not mad?”
“Of course not!”
“Your mother,” Zephora said, “was beside herself with guilt. She accidentally consumed a wee bit too much of the poison she sifts down her throat. Regrettably, she made a very large error she feels quite atrocious about. Well, go on Alexis, tell your daughter.”
“Yes,” Alexis said, pausing to push an empathetic tone into her voice. “I drank too much liquor, and I…I’m sorry. I said so many things I can’t take back. I wish I could, but I can’t. I made a mistake, and I hope you can forgive me.”
I was so shocked by Alexis’s ability to lie so convincingly that I wondered…Is she telling the truth? A moment later though, after her words careened off the walls of my brain, I heard both the lilt in her voice—and the forced sincerity, and I pegged her as a tremendous liar. It made sense. Here was a woman who worked to make men’s fantasies come true inside a strip club. She had to be an incredible actress to portray the type of woman these men wanted. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have made it long on stage (or in a back room doing lap dances!).
“Its okay, Mom,” Celestina said in a voice bursting with relief. “Phew! I thought you were really mad at me.”
“Just a misunderstanding,” Alexis said.
Just a misunderstanding! A mother who truly loved and cared about her daughter wouldn’t have stopped there. She would have felt guilt-ridden about the outburst for much longer than a couple hours, only to throw up her hands as if to say, We misunderstand things now and again! Granted, I wasn’t a mother, but I couldn’t imagine Grams screaming at me, only to brush it off a short time later as a “misunderstanding.”
“I’m so glad you got home safe,” Alexis said, “especially so late at night. Aunt Serena didn’t drive you home?”
“She did, but I snuck out. I knew you made a mistake, and I knew you’d be mad that I took a cab, but…”
“I understand. I’m not mad. How could I be? We all make mistakes.”
Upon hearing those words, my temper skyrocketed. My hand jittered on the knob. I wanted to bang through the door and knock the hell out of my sister!
“Keep it together,” Nolan whispered into my ear. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”
It’s okay. I almost said. We all make mistakes! I closed my eyes and worked on slowing my heartbeat, while keeping my ear pressed against the door.
“We all make them,” Zephora admitted.
“I still don’t trust you!” Celestina said.
Saying those words took a lot of courage, and because I knew Celestina feared Zephora, I smiled at her bravery.
“I understand,” Zephora said. “But hopefully, one day you will.”
“Oh, hey,” Alexis said, “Zephora told me about this awesome incantation, but since it’s been almost one-hundred years, she doesn’t remember the words to the spell. Do you think you could get The Book of Souls to check on it for us?”
I held my breath and waited for my niece to respond. As the seconds ticked by, I wondered if she’d forgotten the plan we’d agreed upon. I swallowed. The moisture in my mouth dried up.
“Ah, yeah, sure,” Celestina said. “Okay. Follow me.”
I sighed, waited seven or eight seconds, and estimated they’d walked down the hall into Alexis’s room. That should provide enough of a buffer against any sounds the door might make as I opened it. I inched open the door and poked my head around to look into the family room.
As expected, Celestina led Zephora and Alexis into her mother’s bedroom and then entered her walk-in closet, keeping the trio out of sight.
I pushed open the door, tiptoed inside, and spread the door open for Nolan. Once he entered the house, I shut the door, and led him into Celestina’s bedroom. Fortunately, the carpeting muffled our footsteps. After we hurried into my niece’s room, I shut the door to give us privacy, while affording us a bit of soundproofing.
I rushed over to one side of Celestina’s bed, while Nolan did the same opposite me. I splayed out, looked underneath the bed, and spotted a pink jump rope, a few paperback books, a DVD of The Good Dinosaur, a pair of purple boots, a few markers, and a couple Twizzlers wrappers. Nolan and I swept our arms back and forth, caught those items against our forearms and biceps, and sent them to the foot of the bed, so we could focus on finding the invisible book. Afterwards, we slid our arms in every direction, hoping our fingers, hands, or arms might catch the book. That didn’t happen, so we crawled closer to the headboard and began swiping our arms again.
My knuckles bumped into something solid. I froze, breathing heavy, realizing that due to the position I took under the bed, the blood was rushing to my head, and I wondered if I hadn’t imagined connecting with the book…unless Celestina enjoyed placing invisibility charms on other things and hiding them under her bed. Under any other circumstance, I’d probably laugh off the idea, because I could certainly see my niece doing so…out of boredom or just because she could.
“Catch something?” Nolan whispered.
I nodded and gestured to the spot, so he could try snagging it, or at least push it in my direction. I squiggled closer to the side of the bed, but the nightstand blocked my left shoulder, making it difficult to squeeze my way forward. I spread my fingers wide and swished them side-to-side.
My middle finger tapped it, accidentally thrusting it away from me. Shit!
“Well?” Alexis asked, aggravated. “Where could it be? You either remember or you don’t.”
There’s the real Alexis!
I listened for more voices, trying to pinpoint where they came from, either the bedroom or the hallway.
“I’m sorry,” Celestina squeaked.
“You’re sorry?” asked Alexis. “Oh, you’re sorry. Well, that doesn’t work in the real world, Celestina. If you owe twenty dollars for groceries and don’t have the cash, saying sorry to the cashier isn’t going to help you come home with all those damned groceries.”
I wanted to shoot off the floor, whip the door off its hinges, race down the hall, and knock my sister senseless. But Zephora only needed to raise a finger to make me vanish the same way Nolan had done to her. I could end up in Siberia. Not a wise plan of action.
I released a heavy sigh, lifted my head above the bed, and when Nolan did the same, I whispered, “Push it closer.”
He hit the floor without a sound, jostled forward, and the book sifted against the carpet as it nudged toward me. I planted my palm over the cover as my heartbeat drummed in my head. I had it! When I tried to grip the leather, however, I couldn’t get a firm handle for two reasons. I didn’t have the biggest hands in the world, plus my palm was slick with perspiration. I couldn’t do anything about the size of my hand, so I veered my hand off to the side, wiped the moisture off on the carpet, and planted it once more on the book. It allowed for a firmer grasp, so I pulled it toward me.
“I’m sick of this shit, Celestina!” Alexis yelled.
She was definitely closer now than a few moments earlier. Judging by the dimensions of this house, I’d identified her location as in the hall between her bedroom and Celestina’s bedroom, putting twenty feet between us. If she continued in this direction, she would be able to open the door within the next a few seconds.
She’d reach the outskirts of the door quicker than I’d manage to remove The Book of Souls from under my niece’s bed.
The bedroom doorknob rattled. “Celestina!” my sister shouted. “Open your damn door!”
“I can’t. I put a hex on it.”
“You…what?”
When Celestina didn’t respond in the allotted time, Alexis said, “Why? Why would you do that?”
“Because I didn’t want you to take the book.”
“Now, why would I want it?” asked Alexis in a sweet tone.
“Because you’re mixed up with that psycho!”
Alexis chortled. “Celestina, sweet child of mine, please open the door.”
“No,” Celes
tina whispered in an adamant tone, one vowing she wouldn’t open the door, even under threat of torture.
It took tremendous courage to stand up to a parent, especially when the child looked up to that individual. In that moment, my admiration for my niece soared. She had spoken up for her beliefs despite knowing they contrasted with those of the one person she loved most in life.
“Celestina,” Alexis said. “Don’t make me angry.”
“I’m not. I don’t want to. But don’t make me do something I don’t want to do.”
“Step aside, child,” Zephora said to Alexis. “She may need a stronger incentive.”
Unwilling to hear whatever methods the sorceress might use to convince Celestina to disregard her ethics, I pulled the book toward me until it bumped against my shoulder. “I’ve got it.” Excitement flooded my system as I scrambled to my feet.
“Step away from the door, Celestina,” said Zephora. “Do not waste my time.”
“Fine,” Celestina said with a trace of fright.
The door rumbled in the threshold before splintering into dozens of pieces, not into the bedroom but through the hallway. In the moments that Zephora, Alexis, and Celestina shielded their faces from the wreckage, I turned back to Nolan and waved a hand toward the doorway, hoping to leave the room and exit the house while Zephora and Alexis cleared the dust from their eyes.
Just as I approached the doorway, however, Zephora lifted both hands in an arc, and the dozens of various sized fractured pieces of wood froze in mid-air, while leaving every individual in the vicinity free to continue moving without restraint. I came to a stop a few feet from the door and backed up, only to have Nolan grasp onto my shoulders and tug me against his chest before releasing me to avoid removing more time from my life.
“Do you still doubt my power?” asked Zephora with upturned lips, obviously enjoying a moment where she controlled the elements. “That book,” she said, gesturing toward the item in my right hand, “will not help you defeat me.” Her smile blossomed as she snatched a jagged slice of wood suspended before her eyes. “I have lived in four different centuries. What hope have you of defeating me?”
She was right. In all likelihood, since I had only limited knowledge of my family history, my ancestors had banded together to defeat Zephora. So how could I hope to do likewise without knowing how they’d managed to send her beyond the veil? “That you’ve lived in four different centuries.”
Puzzled, she cocked an eyebrow.
“My ancestors have defeated you four times. I don’t care how long it takes or what I have to give up, but I will find a way to end you!”
For the briefest moment, Zephora’s cockiness eroded. She lifted a hand in my direction, and all of the splintered pieces of wood from the busted door shifted slowly backwards toward me before darting in my direction.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The chunks of wood stopped a fraction of an inch from pelting my face. A moment later, they receded and coalesced in the doorway before solidifying, one by one, until every single shard of wood formed a solid wood door, separating me from my family in the hall.
Shocked, I spun around to shield my face, but I saw Nolan standing a couple feet behind me in deep concentration, his left arm outstretched toward the door, his eyes focused not on me, but the threshold.
“Nolan?” I asked.
“It’s okay,” he said, releasing a heavy breath. “They won’t be able to enter this room again.”
“What about Celestina?”
His brows quivered for a quick moment. Then he grinned. “Move toward the door. Press your hand against it.”
“Huh? What are you—”
“Do it!” he shouted. “Do it now!”
Although I felt rushed, I did exactly as he commanded.
“Celestina,” Nolan said in a quiet voice. “Join us!”
Surprised by his composed tone, I swung my attention toward the door, and a second later, I watched a set of small fingertips press through the door. Startled, I jerked back.
“Don’t be frightened,” Nolan said. “Trust me.”
“Return!” shouted Zephora from behind the door. “Return this instant.”
It seemed Nolan and the sorceress had entered into a match of influence, and based on how Celestina’s hand entered my side of the door, followed by her wrist, she’d made her decision to trust Nolan and I over her mother and Zephora. I also figured that Nolan had somehow prevented Zephora and Alexis from moving. Otherwise, they would have surely stopped her from…making her way through a solid door.
I grabbed my niece’s wrist.
“Don’t you dare!” shouted Zephora. A second later, the door rattled against the threshold, shaking, quaking.
Fearing the door might erupt while my niece’s body was stuck between both sides of it, I yanked so hard, I fell backwards, dragging Celestina with me. A second later, she fell right toward me.
I hit the ground and, seeing my niece falling, I dropped the book in order to catch my niece, so her body didn’t bash into me. Celestina veered in my direction, and I caught her. Once again, I bounced against the floor, eliciting a grunt as agony drilled through me. Despite the pain, I half-smiled because I held Celestina in my arms and because she’d snubbed a dark path and instead sided with me.
I let out a heap of air, while Celestina did the same with her eyes closed.
The door shook in the threshold, threatening to bust loose of the nails that Nolan’s supernatural power had somehow nailed back into place.
“Celestina!” Alexis screamed. “Get out here right now!”
Still in my grasp, my niece met my stare as her breath tapped my neck. She shook her head, fright making her eyebrows rise. “Don’t let me.”
While getting to my feet and setting her upright, I smiled to show I’d never allow her to go anywhere she didn’t want to go. “Follow your heart,” I said. Saying anything more would have been melodramatic, so I spun toward Nolan. “Can she get in?”
“No,” answered Celestina. “She’ll never be able to enter this room using magic.”
“Why?” I asked, curious why she felt so certain.
Celestina grinned and nodded at the invisible book on the ground, which apparently only she could see. “I read it, remember? The spell I used wouldn’t let anyone come in here, except me.” Her smile widened.
“You’re smarter than anyone knows.” I turned toward Nolan. “How did you…”
He shrugged, looking clueless. When I set my gaze on Celestina, who retrieved the book and stared at the cover, I asked, “How do we get out of here?”
She raised her eyebrows, looking uncertain. “There isn’t a spell in the book to disappear from a locked room.”
“Really?” I asked. “I thought there was a spell for everything. After hundreds of years of witches in our line, someone must have created a spell for something like this.”
The doorknob rattled in place. Obviously, Zephora and Alexis weren’t ready to give up. “It’s in there with you, isn’t it?” Alexis asked. “The Book of Souls!”
“They won’t give up,” I said. Setting my attention on Celestina, I said, “is there any way to get out of here?”
My niece shook her head and looked to Nolan. “Unless you can teleport us out.”
“Can you?” I asked.
“Maybe. Both of you come here.” When we entered his personal space, Nolan closed his eyes, but they jittered under his lids.
A fist pounded against the door once, twice, a third time.
His forehead wrinkled. “I can’t concentrate.”
It seemed Zephora had given up trying a magical method of entering this room, in favor of using brute force.
Guilt and uncertainty churned through my stomach. Nolan’s inability to focus made it difficult for me to trust his abilities. He’d teleported Zephora and Alexis to different locations, and they’d suffered no injuries, but if he couldn’t ignore distractions, he might inadvertently teleport me into the middle of an e
xpressway or onto the peak of a mountain range.
Nolan set his gaze on Celestina. “Have you ever done that before? Walked through a door?”
“No.” She broke into a grin, in awe of his ability.
“Me neither,” he admitted.
“But it was sooo awesome!” she said. “I want to go again.” She made it sound like she’d just been a passenger on an amusement ride. “Can we?”
“We’ll have to,” I said. My chest grew tight. “All right, let’s do this.”
“Yay,” Celestina shouted, as though she sat in the stands at a football stadium.
It seemed my niece regarded these mystical events as ordinary, as though they occurred every ten minutes to any given person. But how could she feel that way? She’d only received her abilities upon her thirteen birthday. Then again, her mother had probably raised her to expect these abilities, while showing her the gifts that came naturally to her.
“This isn’t a game, Celie!”
She winced as though affronted with a slap to the face.
“This is real life. Your mother and that crazy bitch want to rule the world. I need you to understand that!”
“Okay.” Celestina answered. Moisture entered her eyes, and she cringed, scared to have disappointed me. “I know, Aunt Serena.” Her body jittered in place as though she’d consumed way too much sugar during the past few minutes.
I looked into her eyes to see if she fully grasped the situation we faced.
“I trust you more than Mom!” Cringing, glancing at the door as though expecting Alexis to burst through and admonish her, she turned her gaze upon me once more as tears spilled between her eyelashes. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
I hadn’t anticipated such an admission. More importantly, I didn’t think Celestina expected to feel that way, much less speak those words aloud. I thought she cried because she’d turned her back on her mother and had become the person Alexis had presumed her to be: someone who couldn’t be trusted.
A fist pounded on the door, once more shaking the door in its frame as Nolan concentrated on teleporting us out of the room.
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