Spell Struck: Book 2 (The Teen Wytche Saga)

by Ariella Moon

  The cord of energy intensified. Five apparitions appeared — three soldiers in desert fatigues, a strawberry blond man with a camera hung around his neck, and a dark-haired girl. All shimmered with white light.

  The girl stepped toward the thundercloud of foul energy. I tried to scream for her to get back, that it wasn't safe, but no words sprang from my throat. The girl raised her right arm toward the dark energy. Panic blinded me. The room vanished as the black hole sucked me in.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  "Wow. It's so dark out tonight," Amy said as we headed uphill. "I haven't driven since summer."

  I peered out the window. Storm clouds blocked the night sky, and blackness pressed in on the tiny subcompact. "No street lamps. No moon." I felt like a hamster trapped in a tin wheel. Amy's irregular energy pinged around the car's interior, zapping me. Each spark buzz sawed anxiety under my skin. I drew in my aura and shuddered out a calming breath.

  "I should have brought Flipper." Amy took one hand off the wheel and chewed her fingernails.

  "How far to Evie's house?"

  "Just a couple more blocks." Amy made a right at the corner. Tree limbs bobbing in the wind blocked the street sign. Thunder rumbled through Teensy Weensy. Ahead, fog obscured the road. Amy's hands tightened on the wheel. In the dim dashboard light, the color leached from her knuckles. "Do you feel them?"

  "What?" I clutched the sides of the seat and battled to harness and ground the edgy energy.

  Amy shivered. "Snakes, all around us. Vipers."

  "It's just a new storm rolling in. It messes with the barometric pressure."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Absolutely." Though something shivered my skin. Maybe Amy wasn't just mentally ill. Maybe she could sense paranormal activity.

  A deer stepped out of the fog. Amy screamed and stood on the brake. I thrust out a protective arm as both of our seatbelts locked. Amy started gasping and fought against the seatbelt.

  Not now. We need to warn Salem. "Everything is okay." I coaxed Amy with the same tone I used to use on my dad when he'd wanted to buy alcohol. "You did great. Lucky for all of us you are such a great driver. Can you ease over to the curb?"

  Amy threw me a wild-eyed stare that made me wish I knew how to drive. "We're going to die!" she cried between gasps.

  "No." Though we might get rear-ended if we don't move. "You saved us. And look, there goes the deer." As her gaze followed the retreating deer, I placed my hand on the steering wheel. When she didn't move, I eased toward her hand. "Let's pull over and park for a minute. I'll smooth your aura like I did back at the house. Okay?" Our fingers touched, and I transmitted calming energy.

  Amy nodded. I released the wheel and held my breath until she parked in front of a flat-roofed house. Tears streamed down Amy's cheeks as she cut the engine. Her shuddering gasps gave way to hiccups. Her hands formed a shaky heart shape in front of her mouth.

  "Better?"

  She nodded, then shook her head. "Trouble is coming."

  Weak headlights illuminated the road. A slow-moving van passed us and pierced the earthbound cloud. "Trouble," Amy muttered.

  My adrenaline spiked. Papo and Magdalena. I glanced at Amy. Definitely a Sensitive. "Do you have your cell phone?"

  "I think so." She fished it out of her oversized purse.

  "Try Salem again."

  "Okay." Amy punched in some numbers, swore, closed the phone, then opened it and started over. "It's ringing. What should I say if she answers?"

  "I'll talk to her."

  "It's going to voicemail."

  She handed me the phone. Salem's recorded voice sounded. Hey. You know what to do. After the tone, I said, "Salem? Aidan. I think Papo and Magdalena are on their way to Evie's. Burgundy van. Do not let them in the house! We're on our way."

  I clapped the phone shut.

  Amy wiped her eyes. "Who are Papo and Magdalena?"

  "Evil people."

  "And they're after Evie?"

  I swallowed. "No. Your sister."

  Amy didn't wait for further explanation. She switched on Teensy Weensy and aimed for the fog. "Well, they're not going to get her. Not on my watch."

  The fog bank was narrower than I had expected, and we quickly broke free of it. I searched ahead for the van's single taillight. Just as I spotted it, the van's brakes squealed, and the vehicle fishtailed. The swerving headlights illuminated a deer as it leaped in front of the van and bounded into a yard across the street. The van teetered on two wheels. I held my breath, afraid it would flip. Instead, the airborne tires hit the ground. I sucked in air, imagining how hard anyone inside the van would have bounced.

  A luminous white owl swooped over us, wings outstretched, flying so low its talons nearly scraped the windshield. "Whoa!" I ducked. Amy screamed and braked. The tiny car jerked to a stop. Ahead, the van plowed through a fence, ripping jagged white pickets from the ground and shooting them through the air. Three posts arrowed to the asphalt in front of us and splintered.

  "Crap!" Amy shielded her eyes with her forearm.

  The owl peeled off and vanished. The van tore across the lawn and slammed into a large oak. The thud boomed in my ears, and my stomach sickened at the sound of crumpling metal. The van shuddered to a halt.

  Amy gasped. "Oh my! Call nine-one-one."

  The cell phone slid from my nerveless fingers. I gaped at the van. A ball of white light appeared above it, hovered for a moment, swelled in size, and ascended out of sight.

  I jerked backward. "Did you see that?"

  "The light?" Amy nodded and leaned forward.

  "What do you think it was?"

  Amy's eyes widened. "An angel?"

  The front door of the house flew open and a middle-aged couple ran out. The woman had a phone to her ear. The man carried a fire extinguisher. Porch lights flicked on next door and across the street. Neighbors streamed to the accident.

  "No one is getting out of the van." Bile rose in my throat.

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Amy glided the car to the side of the road and parked. "Do you think Sarah is safe now?"

  I swallowed back vomit. "Yes." I unbuckled my seatbelt. "I'm sure of it." My hand shook as I reached for the door.

  "Good. We're the only eyewitnesses. We can't leave the scene."

  "Call your dad," I said. "He'll hear the sirens and be worried."

  "Good idea." Amy collected her cell phone from the floor mat and flipped it open.

  "I'm going to see if anyone survived. Will you be okay?"

  Amy nodded as she pressed numbers on the keypad.

  "After your dad, try Salem again."

  I opened the car door. Sirens filled my ears, growing closer, louder. My injured ear throbbed. I flashed back to the day Dad had died on the street in San Francisco and how the ambulances had blared outside the hospital the day we'd lost Mom.

  Small tremors rattled my body. I steeled myself, squared my shoulders, raised my vibration, and silently said my mantra.

  I will finish high school.

  I will go to college.

  I will live in a warm house with running water and electricity.

  Salem will be my girlfriend.

  I will find Bronwyn.

  No matter what.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  White light, like sunlight breaking through the clouds, streamed from the girl's upraised palm. "Mama. This is not the way." Her voice reminded me of fine crystal — beautiful, otherworldly, neither female nor male.

  Another voice, shaky and incredulous, pierced the void. "Irina? Is that you?"

  "Follow the light, Mama."

  The twirling cord of energy trying to tug me into another realm slowed to a halt. The venomous energy shriveled into nothingness. A brilliant white light blossomed in the darkness and melded with Irina's. Like a glowing balloon, the wondrous light ascended through a vertical column of glittering stars. The path of souls, a voice inside my head explained. As the ball of light rose, my spirit freefell, passing through the
ring of soldiers in camouflage gear and the man with the camera. The girl had vanished in a trail of starlight and love.

  "Salem? Are you okay?"

  Evie's voice reached me as if from a dream. My spirit slid into my body and thrummed. This must be what fairy dust feels like. My eyes remained closed as I tried to sort out which part was reality and which was the dream. Before I could decide, Amy's ringtone penetrated my consciousness.

  I followed the sound from wherever I had been and opened my eyes. "Could someone answer my phone? It's Amy."

  Evie, her mom, and Parvani were hunched over me. Parvani sprang up and retrieved my cell phone from the outer pocket of my backpack. "Hello? Amy? It's Parvani."

  Baby licked my face. Evie grabbed her collar and pulled her off.

  Mrs. O'Reilly pressed a cool hand to my forehead and asked her daughter, "What happened?"

  "We were messing around with the Ouija board when Salem — I mean, Sarah — started acting strangely. Then she kind of fainted."

  Parvani held out the phone. "It's Amy."

  I propped myself up on my elbows. The room swam. "Is everything okay?" I said into the phone.

  "Sort of. Are you okay? Aidan was worried about you."

  I bolted up. Baby placed her paw on my lap. "You talked to Aidan?" Parvani and Evie crowded closer. Sirens wailed close by. Mrs. O'Reilly went to the window.

  "Yes. I'm sort of with him now."

  "What do you mean 'sort of'? Where are you?"

  "Down the street. We were coming to rescue you from some evil people, then there was a crash—"

  My pulse accelerated. "Were either of you hurt?"

  "No." Her voice faltered. "Just sort of in shock. It was horrible. Aidan went to see if they are dead."

  "See if who is dead?"

  "There is an ambulance and fire truck parked down the street," Mrs. O'Reilly reported.

  "The people in the van," Amy said. "Dad is coming to get us as soon as Mom gets home with the car."

  "You drove Aidan?"

  "Yes, silly. I do know how to drive, remember?"

  "Yeah. Sorry. I forgot. Hang tight, we'll come down and stay with you until Dad arrives." I glanced up at Evie and Parvani. They both nodded.

  "I think you better hang with your boyfriend. He seemed pretty shook up. Guess he knew the people in the van."

  "Oh, no! I hope it wasn't his cousin, Kali."

  "Maybe. He mentioned a couple of other names, but they were weird. I can't remember them."

  "Papo and Magdalena?"

  "Yes! Do you know them?"

  "Not personally."

  "Good. See you soon." Amy ended the call.

  Everyone stared at me. "I have to leave."

  "You just fainted," Mrs. O'Reilly protested.

  "I have to. Amy and Aidan witnessed the accident. They are pretty shaken up, and Aidan's cousin may have been in the van. I need to get down there."

  "We'll watch her." Evie helped me up.

  "I'm going with you," Mrs. O'Reilly said. "Evie, please get Baby's leash. Girls, you'll need your coats."

  "Wait." My body felt lit from within. "I have to tell you something. While I was — floating — I saw a man with strawberry blond hair like Evie's. He had a camera. And there were three soldiers dressed in camouflage with him. They surrounded us, like guardians. They vanished when I slipped back into my body."

  Evie and her mother shared a long look. Then Mrs. O'Reilly said, "Evie has her father's hair. Dash was a photojournalist, you know."

  Evie's eyes shined. "He was on assignment, embedded with the Marines in Afghanistan when…" She joined her mom in a hug.

  "He and three Marines were killed," Mrs. O'Reilly said.

  My insides whirled.

  "Peace. Love. Light. Namaste," Parvani said, her palms pressed together in prayer position.

  "Amen," Evie said.

  I glanced out the window. Blue, red, and white flashing lights assaulted my eyes. "Two more police cars just arrived. We better hurry." Chaos. My stomach clenched.

  We fled the house, still zipping up jackets and buttoning raincoats. Baby led the way, straining on her webbed nylon leash. The rain had stuttered to sprinkles. Many of the neighbors greeted Evie and Mrs. O'Reilly as we pushed through the crowd.

  "What happened?" Mrs. O'Reilly asked a rotund man and his athletic-looking wife.

  "I think the driver swerved to avoid a deer."

  Neighbors encircled us, blocking my view. Perspiration pooled under my arms. The first responders' radios squawked over the murmuring crowd. I needed to escape the stench of burnt rubber and the moans and shrieks of pain knifing the air.

  "Aidan! Amy!" I gritted my teeth and pushed through the throng.

  "Sarah!" The flashing lights from the emergency vehicles flickered across Amy like mad, patriotic strobe lights. Relief flooded me. She trembled like a captured bird. I threw my arms around her. "Oh, Sarah, it was awful! They crashed right in front of us!"

  I stroked her hair. "I'm so glad you're okay. Any word from Mom and Dad?"

  "They just left the house. They'll be here in a sec. The police already took my statement. They said I could go."

  "Where's Aidan?"

  "He was talking to the police a minute ago. The firefighters radioed for the Jaws of Life. It just arrived." Amy shuddered. "There were two people in the van."

  Please don't let one of them be Kali.

  "Amy! Sarah!" Mom and Dad trotted toward us. Amy ran and met them halfway. As Dad hugged Amy, I told Mom, "I need to find Aidan."

  Mom nodded. I left her and threaded through the onlookers, following the hideous screech of tearing metal. Steeling myself, I pushed through a wall of neighbors. My stomach fluttered when I spotted Aidan. He stood beside a female police officer, his gaze transfixed on the firefighter working to free the driver from the van. Aidan glanced my way, and his tense expression relaxed into relief and something more.

  I threw myself into his arms. He held me so tightly his heart pulsed against my ear. "You're safe," we said in unison.

  "Thanks to you," I said. "Was Kali in the van?"

  "No. She's with a neighbor. It was Papo and Magdalena. Magdalena wasn't wearing her seat belt. She didn't make it."

  The news sank in like a stone drifting to the bottom of a deep lake. "Are you okay?"

  Aidan rolled his shoulders. "It's all so surreal. I don't know…"

  My family joined us. Aidan loosened his hold, and I drifted to his side and clasped his hand.

  "Excuse me, folks." The female police officer lowered her notepad.

  "Yes?" Aidan replied.

  "Mr. Cooper, it's time for us to go."

  "I don't understand," Dad said. "Where are you taking him?"

  The woman arched one brow. "And you are?"

  "Matthew Miller. My daughter and Aidan witnessed the accident."

  "Yes. I've taken Amy's statement." The cop glanced at Aidan.

  He released a long breath. "The two people in the van kidnapped me five years ago."

  I gasped and clapped my hand over my mouth.

  "They had already snatched Kali. I'm going to take Officer Waters to Kali. Then we'll go to the station so she can check our story."

  Realization dawned. "Snatched 2008. Your email address referred to your kidnap date, not a movie."

  Aidan nodded.

  "I want to go with you," I said.

  "It's going to be a long night," Officer Waters warned.

  "We have to go to the hospital after we pick up Kali." Aidan shoved his hands in his jeans pocket and stared down at his boots.

  My heart tumbled. My mind conjured up all sorts of reasons Aidan might need to go to the hospital — none good.

  Another officer approached the group, radio in hand, and took Officer Waters aside. Two first responders wheeled a gurney past us. The bloodied man beneath the white sheet raised his head when he spotted Aidan and shouted, "Nico! Tell the police how I saved you. How I took you in. Tell them how you'd be dead if not
for me. Do the right thing, boy." He moaned and collapsed back on the gurney.

  Aidan's hand tightened against mine.

  Officer Waters rejoined us and glanced down at her notepad. "There's been a new development." Her gaze met Aidan's. "Do you know a Mr. Castellano?"

  "He's our art teacher."

  "Mr. Castellano just called the station." Officer Waters pressed her notepad to her chest. "It appears he can corroborate your story."

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Sunlight slanted through the hospital window, warming the thin blanket and crisp, clean sheets covering my hospital bed.

  "Are you sure you won't stay?"

  Kali shook her head. "I'll come back tomorrow and see if your ear is back to normal and if they have the whole deaf, undernourished, dehydrated thing under control."

  "Bring June."

  "I will. She and the Yorkies are waiting for me in the parking lot. I'll tell her how handsome you look in Jì's jammies."

  I rubbed my hand across the soft flannel. "One man's rejects are another man's treasure."

  "Please don't ever use the word 'treasure' around me again."

  "Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, Papo is facing state and federal charges. Kidnapping, child endangerment, child neglect, attempted murder, murder…" I fingered my injured ear. "Assault. I can't remember what else."

  "I guess they aren't going to charge me with anything."

  "Why would they? Sheesh, Kali."

  "Because I introduced you to Magdalena and Papo. I feel responsible. They kidnapped you because of me."

  "You were just a kid. You can't blame yourself for being their pawn. I sure don't blame you."

  "You sound like June."

  "Good. I'm glad everything worked out so you can stay with her."

  "Me too." Kali tugged on the edge of the blanket, smoothing out the wrinkles. She twisted toward the door. "Salem's here. I'll leave you lovebirds alone."