Raven Ridge (Witches of Sanctuary Book 2)

by Savannah Blevins

  “We have to get that book, Willa, or he’ll be dead anyway.”

  “I’ll stay with him,” Abby says, trying to keep a straight face. She can’t. I can see it there, that desire to promise me she’ll save him. She doesn’t say the words, though. She can’t lie to me.

  Julien.

  My Julien.

  I collapse in Reid’s arms. He keeps me on my feet. “She killed him,” he whispers in my ear. “Are you going to let her get away with that?”

  My body is paralyzed.

  Reid takes my hands and turns me around to face him. “I’m not going to let her get away with that. Are you?”

  I can barely see him for the tears.

  He wipes them away, holding my face steady. “We’ll avenge him, Willa. Together.”

  Avenge.

  Revenge.

  The pain starts to twist and burn, snaking its way into my limbs, bringing them back to life. I will seek my revenge on Erika Prescott. I will avenge my best friend for her malice. My feet steady. Anger contracts my muscles, and I stand, fists clenched. I give Reid one solitary nod. “Which way did she go?”

  He squeezes my cheek, then kisses it.

  Follow me.

  Chapter 20

  GRAND HALL

  Erika disappeared into the wilderness on the north end of town, the quickest way back to Shadow Bend on foot. It wouldn’t be quick enough for her. I follow Reid through the trees. Branches break across my face, but I don’t flinch. I’m too numb to care.

  “Concentrate, Willa.” Reid glances back at me. “Concentrate and listen. We need to find which way she went.”

  I block out the chill and the sting of the air as it gushes through my lungs. My adrenaline causes my blood to pump too loudly in my ears. There is a sound in the distance, but it’s faint. I can’t tell which direction it’s coming from yet.

  “Willa, come up here,” Reid yells back, holding his hand out for me to catch up.

  As soon as I grab hold of it, every noise around us vanishes. It’s like the world goes mute. The power of the sun and moon combined, I guess. The noise in the distance intensifies. It’s headed due east. Reid hears it too, because he suddenly veers us in that direction. I jump in front of him. I want to be the first one Erika meets. I want to be the last person she ever lays eyes on.

  Sweetie…

  I glance back. Reid heard me. I hadn’t even realized I’d sent him those thoughts. It must be the adrenaline or the complete lack of control of my emotions.

  Erika is mine.

  “We need the book,” he says. “Without it, we can’t—”

  “He’s dead, Reid. The book isn’t going to bring Julien back.”

  He catches my elbows and jerks me to a stop. “Maybe not, but it will save the rest of them. If Julien is dead, then Lyric has transformed. He’s back there with Abby.” His jaw clenches. “You and I both know Abby will be his target now.”

  Something brushes up the leaves behind us. A guard grabs Reid’s shoulder, but I’m too quick. Too hyper-focused on every minute detail around me. No one is sneaking up on me today. The air in the guard’s throat cuts off without even a flick of my wrist. The leaves on the ground start to rustle. The guard slides across the rough dirt toward me. “Where is she? Where is my book?”

  The guard tries to speak, but I don’t allow any air to get to him. It’s pointless anyway. I’ll hunt down Erika whether he answers my question or not. When he starts to lose consciousness, I discard him over my shoulder. Dead weight.

  I take off toward the east. Reid is right behind me. Her footsteps are close. “Willa, we’re about to break across the border to Shadow Bend.”

  “Good.”

  “Not good. She probably has more guards there, waiting for us.”

  “Good,” I repeat.

  Reid is right. As we get closer, I start to pick up their heavy breathing, their slow, sluggish footsteps as they pace the border. Erika has already crossed it, and they know we’re coming for them. My hands dart out in front of me. Their figures can be seen in the trees right in front me. My anger takes physical form in flames. The trees they hide behind light up like fireworks. Their screams only make me send the flames higher, to make them hotter until it scorches every last one of them.

  “Willa.”

  I don’t turn around to look at Reid. I don’t want him to see my face, to witness the lack of emotions on it. Suddenly, I’m that little girl again. The crazy one no one wanted. All that anger and resentment that built up for all those years has surfaced, and right now, it’s not aimed at my father who stole me away only to abandon me. It’s not directed at all those who killed my mother, and set the events in motion that took the life of my friend.

  It’s all for Erika.

  The evil queen pissed off the wrong witch.

  The fires subside behind me. Surely, it’s Reid doing, because I would have burned Shadow Bend to the ground. The forest suddenly breaks open to reveal a wide clearing, and in it, the only thing you can possibly see is a beautiful Parthenon type building that stretches into the mountainside. Erika stands on the steps.

  I run through the brown grass in the clearing, jumping the steps of what I can only assume is the Prescotts’ grand hall. The double doors at the top are heavy, but I whip them open without a single ounce of effort. The hall is long, the ceilings high and open, revealing large stone columns down the center. “You can run,” I say through my teeth. “But I promise, it won’t save your life. Not today.”

  The fires that burn on the torches attached to the columns grow brighter. Erika’s foot catches on something and she falls to the ground. It’s me. Sure, I could end her life with one simple tweak of her neck, but the Haunted don’t deserve easy. Erika doesn’t deserve freedom from the pain. She kicks and tosses, but I drag her down the long hallway back to me.

  Her wrists pin themselves beside her head. “Where is your smile now, huh?”

  “He’s dead.” Her eyes are wide and frantic as she screams it at me. Even now, on the brink of death, she only cares about causing me more pain. “I killed Julien Cote.”

  My hands clasp around her throat. All my magic releases. I will kill her with my own bare hands. My fingers grip tighter, my fingernails sinking in deeper. Then I hear Reid behind me. “You don’t have to kill her, Willa.”

  “I need to kill her. I want to kill her.”

  “Look—she killed Julien. I get that, all right? I have the same hatred and resentment in me too. I wanted to snap Julien’s head off when I saw him in our driveway. He killed my best friend and he almost killed you. I didn’t, though. With the book, we can save them from this curse.”

  “You said it yourself that Erika was evil even before she transformed.”

  “And Julien was an asshole. Neither of them committed murder. They deserve a chance, Willa. They deserve forgiveness for the crime they commit in this state.”

  I scream as I hold her tighter. I don’t want to forgive her.

  It’s too hard. What she took…what they’ve all taken is too much. Erika loses consciousness.

  My anger fades back to pain, and the tears weaken my hold. “It’s not fair. I shouldn’t have to lose him twice.”

  Reid touches my shoulder. “I know, sweetie.”

  My grips falls as grief takes me. Julien is gone. Killing Erika won’t bring him back. Nothing will.

  Reid pulls me away from her. A chair grates against the floor behind him, and I jerk toward it. “What is it?”

  I grip his arm. “Don’t move.”

  He looks down at me, his brow raised in question. I point toward the throne. “I hear something,” I whisper.

  He turns around, and the chair next to the throne moves again. This time the screech across the floor is louder as something pushes it out of the way. “Reid!” I point at the throne, my voice suddenly lost.

  It’s the Mountain Lion. It slinks around the chair and down the steps toward us. Reid grabs Erika’s limp body and pulls her back with us, heaving
her up on his shoulder. It stops in front of us and then peers down one of the long, dark hallways leading off the throne room. Eyes light up the darkness.

  I inch closer to Reid. The Red Wolf eases out of the shadows toward us, taking the spot next to the Mountain Lion. I glance over at him. “What do we do now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  A raven calls above us and I reflexively duck down as it flies over our heads. It lands on top of the throne. It flaps its wings and hops back and forth along the back of the chair. The Mountain Lion and Wolf don’t move. “Do you think they want us to bring them into human form?”

  Reid eases Erika down to the floor and takes my hand. “There’s only one way to find out.”

  The power bursts freely between our hands, and it takes only a moment for us to spread the orange glow to the rest of the room. Just like in the cavern, our power causes the animal forms of the Haunted to transform, their bodies fading into a dark gray smoke that twirls and twists into the air, creating human forms.

  Estelle Cote sits on the throne in her brilliant red dress and silky black hair that hangs to her waist. George Bessette and Luther Prescott stand closest to us. I squeeze Reid’s hand tighter. Luther is the spitting image of Zeke. I imagine it’s what he would have looked like as a grown man, as the years began to age his youthful face.

  Estelle taps her fingers along the arm of the chair. “And to think…I never thought you two would finally come around.”

  George glares over his shoulder at her, but then turns back to me. “Why didn’t you kill her?”

  I look back at Erika’s body on the floor. She’s breathing, but only barely. I shrug. “I guess even with all the hate inside of me, I just didn’t have it in me to do it.”

  Estelle stands up. She walks down the steps and takes the place on the other side of George. “I told you they wouldn’t harm them.”

  Luther Prescott takes a deep breath. “Your family loved Ezekiel more than I ever thought possible. Even then, I doubted you. Then you go and spare her life.” He shakes his head at the girl on the floor. “The one who deserves your charity least of all.” Luther bows down. “Forgive me.”

  I look at Reid, and he nods. It’s time. “Yes,” we say in unison.

  Erika’s body starts to jerk and writhe on the floor, her hand grabbing at her heart. I turn to go to her, but Luther holds up his hand. “There is nothing you can do for her now. The Changing has started.”

  I turn back around and watch George. He stares at the ground, his chin set tight. Estelle rolls her eyes. “Oh, come off it, George. You’re ready. You’ve been ready. You wouldn’t have tried to intervene with Grady and Talbot’s plan to snatch that girl if you weren’t tired of watching them all suffer.”

  “Wait.” I step forward. “You didn’t help Grady take Abby? Those claw marks on his face…you were trying to stop him?”

  George groans. “Those boys have always been rash in their decisions.”

  “We’re growing old here, George,” Estelle says, followed by an impatient sigh.

  He looks up, his arms crossed over his chest. “You had every right to kill them, but you didn’t. Thank you.”

  Reid takes in a short breath. “Grady was one of my best friends. It might not have been real to him, but it was to me.”

  George runs a hand through his hair and wrinkles his nose up like what he’s about to say causes him physical harm. “Forgive me.”

  “Yes.”

  The light around them bursts to a vivid yellow. It causes Estelle to smile. “Do you feel that?”

  Luther nods. “Peace.”

  George’s face remains stern. “We go on, but the fight isn’t over for you yet.”

  Estelle takes in a deep calming breath, like it’s the first breath of fresh air she’s ever had. “Once the Changing completes in all three members of the Haunted, you must perform the Iniquity spell to release Grady, Erika, and Julien from the curse. If you don’t, the darkness will return and claim them, along with every other Haunted in line for the curse.”

  “Lyric and Talbot will die too.”

  “You’ll have until the Winter Solstice. It’s all in your book.”

  I instantly take a step forward. “Where is my book?”

  Luther points down the dark hallway. Lanterns outlining the wall instantly spring to life. “In the treasure room, of course.”

  The light around them continues to get brighter, and with it, their images fade. Estelle’s smile brightens. “Go, Innocents. Go save us all. Let the light shine in Sanctuary again.”

  Their outlines fade and so does our power. It shrinks back toward us until in vanishes completely. My eyes immediately go to Erika. She starts to scream, switching between her cursed state. “No. She’s mine! You can’t have her.”

  She throws herself back and forth on the floor, and for once, I feel sorry for her. Reid touches my shoulder. “I’ll stay with her. Go get the book, and then we’ll take her to the circle with Grady before we go back to town.”

  I take off down the tunnel. The Book of the Moon waits for me. It’s time we end this curse for good. I’ll end it for Zeke.

  I’ll end it for my Julien.

  Chapter 21

  THE BOOK OF THE MOON

  Smoke billows out of the top of two buildings at the end of Main Street. All of Erika’s guards have left it to its ruin. People stand on the sidewalk. Some pick up bits and pieces of destroyed merchandise while others sweep up glass. I hold the Book of the Moon tight to my chest as I run back to the spot where I left Julien.

  He’s gone. His blood remains on the pavement, bright red streaks. It covers my hands too. The dried proof of the indescribable pain. “Where did they take him?”

  Reid comes up behind me, pointing down the street. “Look, there’s Abby coming out of the door of Rooster’s.”

  We make our way down there, and I hand the book over to Reid before catching Abby by the hand. “What’s going on?”

  Abby’s eyes are red and swollen. “Lyric carried Julien in there. But, Willa…he was gone.”

  “No. He can’t be. Lyric would have transformed.”

  Abby takes my hand. “Would he? The Changing had completed in Julien. Lyric couldn’t even let his alter ego possess him during the fight.”

  Julien died and Lyric didn’t transform.

  A scuffle breaks out inside, and Sadie starts screaming. “Can someone help me out, here?”

  I burst inside to find Sadie and Lyric attempting and failing to hold back Julien, who tries desperately to get up from the table. “I hear her out there. Let me go! I have to see Willa.”

  My hearts stops beating. “Julien?”

  Julien sits up on the table and pushes Lyric’s shoulder to the side. “Willa…”

  “You’re alive?”

  Julien struggles to rise again, and finally Sadie gives up. “Let him go,” she says before she releases her hold on him. “We’re never going to get him to lay still now.”

  I run to him. “I can’t believe you’re alive. I watched you die.” I touch his face to make sure he is real. “You died out there.”

  “No. You saved me.” Julien kisses me. His lips part mine. Eager and urgent. His hand grips my neck, pulling me closer to him.

  This is my Julien, and he’s alive.

  “Umm…excuse me.”

  Julien’s lips rip away from mine.

  I stand there, my hands out to my sides in utter shock.

  Reid holds Julien by the back of his shirt, glaring at him. “I’m sorry,” Julien says, holding his hands up in surrender. “I kind of owed you one, and, well…I did just die and come back to life. I’m pretty sure that warrants a kiss from the girl you love.”

  “You didn’t die,” Sadie says, her arms crossed over her chest. “Willa’s magic was still inside of you. Your heart still beat, though I have to admit, it was pretty faint at the end.”

  “What happened?” I’m finally able to make my arms and mouth work again.

&nbs
p; “This,” she says, holding up a tiny vial. The purple liquid inside emits a sparkling steam from the top. “It’s the new potion I’ve been honing. I tried to tell you about it that night at your Declaration party. I call it Magnify.”

  Julien looks down at his shirt that has been ripped in half and runs his hand down his chest to the point where the knife entered his heart. “Is that what you poured all over me?”

  “Yes.” Sadie smiles. “And you need more of it. You’re not completely healed yet. The potion takes all the healing qualities that Willa sent into you and magnifies them.”

  Reid shoves Julien back to Sadie. “Go get healed.”

  Julien glares at him, and so do I. Reid shrugs, unrepentant. “What? He kissed you. He’s lucky I don’t finish him off.”

  I give Reid a quick kiss before shoving Julien back toward Sadie myself. “Let her finish. I’ve already lost you twice, and I can’t handle a third time.”

  Julien scoots up on the table, and Sadie positions him. He glances over at me and smiles. “You love me. I heard you say it out there.”

  I roll my eyes. “Of course I do. You’re my best friend. I told you that.”

  “The reason doesn’t matter.” He grins as he takes in a deep breath.

  Sadie pours the remaining potion over his wound, and Julien grips the edge of the table. “Do you know how bad this stings?”

  “I told you it’s a potion I’m working on. I didn’t say I’d perfected it yet.”

  Lyric snorts beside her. “Be happy she had some, dear brother, or I’d be taking you back to the Ridge in a box.”

  “You still might,” Reid grumbles behind me.

  I shoot him a small smile, and he returns it. “Speaking of not losing you for a third time, we have the Book of the Moon. We just have to go get Delphine and figure out how to do this Iniquity spell.”

  Sadie nods. “Julien only needs a couple more minutes and we’ll be good to go.”

  He rubs his chest, fighting back the urge to scream. “Speaking of the Iniquity spell. Who has the Prescotts’ curse now that Erika is dead?”