Flames in the Midst (The Jade Hale Series)

by Reckenwald, Sarah

  “We’re at an impasse,” he said. “I can’t let her go or trade you for her because you’ll cremate me the minute I am far enough away from her. I can’t explain the predicament we share because you won’t trust me.”

  I took a step closer to them—trying to stop him from retreating.

  “Stop,” Evan said. “You are putting your friend in danger. I can feel your anger from here. It is not safe to be near you right now.”

  “Then what do we do?” I asked.

  “I will leave with your friend, and you will stay here. I will send Cameron to you with instructions tomorrow.”

  “What am I supposed to do until tomorrow?”

  “That is your problem.”

  “How do you know I won’t just kill Cameron?”

  “If you do, I kill your friend. So, do we have an understanding?”

  I could see Stefanie’s eyes pleading with me not to let him take her away, but there wasn’t anything else I could do. My gift was too volatile, even after all of my training. The more emotional I was, the more volatile my gift became. I stood facing my mother’s murderer while he threatened one of my only friends. I felt I might burst into flames myself if I didn’t focus all of my energy on containing my power.

  “We have an understanding,” I answered through clenched teeth. I stood still while I watched Evan back away with Stefanie.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered towards Stefanie. When they had disappeared from my view, I looked for a comfortable place to sit and wait for Cameron. The sun had not started to set, but I could tell the night was going to be chilly. I was still fuming with frustration at my current circumstances, so as soon as I could set up a fire pit, it would be easy to start a fire.

  Before I could start gathering firewood, I heard a rustling in the woods. I braced myself, and then I turned quickly to face a beautiful woman with dark hair and bluish eyes with flecks of green. Her blouse bulged over her round stomach. She was probably late in her second trimester.

  “Are you a stranger?” she asked me.

  I didn’t understand what she was talking about. For an instant, I felt like I was in the middle of a bad after-school special.

  “Pardon me?” I asked.

  “If you be a stranger seeking something, I might be obliged to assist you,” the woman continued. She practically had to spell it out for me, but I got it. She was a witch, and she was offering her help if I asked for it. I was leery to bring someone from this time into the thick of this, but I could certainly use the help if I was to wait for Cameron until tomorrow.

  “I am a stranger seeking solace,” I told her, “but how did you know?”

  She smiled mysteriously.

  “I have gifts as well, time traveler. Come with me and we will keep you warm and give you nourishment for the evening.” She spoke sincerely. I was glad I hadn’t started a fire right away. Apparently, I was not blending in as well as Anastasia did, or perhaps she had just seen Stefanie’s attire.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t leave this spot,” I told her. “My friend.” I couldn’t say anymore. I found it was difficult to admit aloud I’d let Stefanie down. I didn’t want to go into the details of my predicament.

  “I will have you back by morning. The person meeting you here needs to converse with you as much as you need to reclaim your friend. I have no doubt you taking shelter for the evening will not hinder your meeting.”

  “Who are you?” I asked her.

  “My name is Sarah Hale. You can trust me. I believe I am one of your ancestors. Your color has a certain quality to it. It reminds me of my children.” She smiled again and began walking towards the trail. I could feel exhaustion setting in, and I realized a night of protection in the Hale house would not be a terrible thing. We had toyed with the idea of approaching Sarah when we first planned this mission.

  We walked for only fifteen minutes before we arrived at the house. I had been very close to landing Stefanie and I outside of the forest. During our walk, I discovered I had set us right in the middle of the escalating chaos. We arrived in September instead of May. When we entered the house, a young woman bustled around after the three Hale children. John Hale had two additional children, but they would be grown and living on their own now. Sarah quickly dismissed the woman who eyed me suspiciously. I wondered if I was part of the reason Sarah would find herself among the accused. She had explained me away as a distant cousin passing through, but the woman did not look convinced.

  Reverend Hale was away visiting the accused in the Boston jail, trying to save them from damnation, so Sarah would not have to explain my presence for the evening to her unsuspecting husband. We ate a vegetable stew for dinner, and I sat at their table resting well after dinner. Once Sarah put the children to bed, she joined me at the table with two cups of warm tea.

  “I don’t wish to disturb you because you are so tired, but I must know why you are here. Are you after William?” she asked with a hint of urgency in her voice.

  “I don’t know who William is. I am here for Cameron and Evan.”

  “Is one of those the man who took your friend?”

  “That was Evan. He also killed my mother. His son is Cameron.” I explained the best I could. “They are the cause of the witch trials.”

  “I do not know of Evan or Cameron. I have not seen them before this day,” she said, sipping from her cup. “I have seen William. He is the one you seek.” She looked so certain. I couldn’t comprehend that there would be another Shadow Ruler here.

  “What do you mean? Who is William?” I asked. I felt more alert already. We should never have ruled out approaching Sarah. It made sense to talk to a witch in the area; she would know more about what was really going on than we could conjecture from hundreds of years away.

  “William is a dark witch. He is staying on the outskirts of all this madness in the towns, but I can see a dark shadow around him. He is always nearby when another innocent soul is accused.”

  Sarah looked deeply hurt by the thought of innocent people being accused. She didn’t bring up the hangings that were beginning.

  “But how do you know he is the one causing all of this?” This didn’t make sense to me. Maybe Evan and Cameron were working with others.

  “He came to me to assure me of my safety and that of my children. He pursues those unlike us, but he is not like us either. He is dark and dangerous, so you must be here for him. You must stop this before he takes it too far and damns all of these poor people to hell.”

  To hear her talk that way struck me as odd. She knew none of these people were witches, but she feared they were being condemned to hell for the atrocities they were committing against each other. From what she told me, another witch orchestrated all of this. I didn’t have it in me to tell Sarah that she, too, would be caught up in this soon enough if I weren’t able to stop William or Evan or Cameron or whoever lay at the root of this.

  Sarah did not have a spare bed in the house, but she gave me hers for the night and slept in with her children. I thought for sure I would toss and turn and lay awake in the night with my thoughts, but exhaustion set in and transported me to my lagoon. I found Cameron there, sunning himself on my rock. I ignored him and swam through the cool water, my arms slipping through the cool current as if I were putting on a robe instead of swimming. We spent what felt like hours ignoring each other. Then, before I could feel the sensation of being pulled back into consciousness, I had a thought. I swam to the rock and hoisted myself up so that my body remained in the water but my chin rested on the edge of the solid, warm surface.

  “Did you finally want to talk?” Cameron asked with a pleasant smile. He looked somewhat smug, and yet relieved.

  “I just thought you should know something.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Well, you said this is real, so this message should get to you. I am not in the woods where your father left me. I am staying at the Hale house. You may meet me there in the morning.” I studied Cameron carefully.
His deeply tanned skin glistened in the sunlight. His dark features looked stunningly beautiful in the glow of my lagoon. He smiled at me, the urgency of our last encounter long forgotten. He stood and walked towards the edge of the rock, where my chin rested. I thought I should move, in case he was coming close to cut me with another rock or kick me, but I couldn’t feel any particular fear at the moment. Cameron wore a pair of jean shorts and nothing else. I listened to his bare feet meeting with the rock as he walked. He bent down close to me and brushed his lips against my check. I knew I would hate myself for not averting his movement, but in my lagoon, everything felt serene. I couldn’t feel what I knew I should.

  “I’ll see you soon then,” he said, flashing his smile at me before diving into the water and disappearing. I let myself fall back into the water and floated on my back with my eyes closed. When I opened them, Sarah was gently knocking on the door and hurrying in with actual, authentic 1690s clothing for me to wear as I set out to get to the bottom of this.

  As I finished changing, I heard a knock on the door. Sarah’s children were at the table eating. She answered the door to find Cameron standing on the other side. I found I had been expecting him. It did not surprise me at all that my plan had worked. What did surprise me was that my breath caught in my throat for just a minute when I saw him and my pulse quickened, almost imperceptibly. I forced my inappropriate feelings into a dark place in my sub-conscious and walked towards Sarah, but she held her hand out.

  “Before I let you enter, you must seek solace,” she told Cameron.

  “I’m not here for solace. I’m here to talk to Jade.”

  “I have my children to protect. If you speak the words, then you will be bound to bring no harm to any of this family, including Jade.” Sarah stood her ground. It would not have occurred to me to do so because I was thinking only of getting my friend back. I also felt well protected because Cameron understood I was a firestarter. He knew I was dangerous.

  Cameron sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, giving in to this clever witch.

  “I am a stranger seeking solace,” he said. I could tell his heart wasn’t in it, but the words were like a spell. Once you said them, you were bound by an unwritten contract. You could not hurt the ones who took you in.

  “You may enter,” Sarah told him. Cameron forced a smile for Sarah, but she did not return it. Instead, she gathered her children up and left on an errand. We said a quick goodbye, and we both understood I would not be there when she returned.

  “Can we go get Stefanie, now?” I asked.

  Cameron walked over to Sarah’s wooden dining table and sat down. He motioned for me to join him.

  “We need to talk and come to an agreement first. I can’t take you to Stefanie until we have an official agreement.”

  I didn’t move from where I stood by the front door.

  “What do you mean by an official agreement?” I asked.

  “I have a contract for you to sign, but we need to talk first.” Cameron didn’t get up. He motioned for me to join him again. I moved slowly across the room and sat in the wooden straight-backed chair furthest from him. Knowing the lagoon was real and Cameron shared that time with me created a deep rift in my emotions. It felt as if he could look into my most private thoughts. You don’t expect to have to share your dreams with someone else. Yet, even though I hated him, I was beginning to wonder if Amy hadn’t been right in wanting to know what his actual involvement had been in the deaths of my mother and Justin.

  “Do you have questions?” he asked.

  “I do,” I answered. I forced myself not to start arguing with Cameron from the beginning. I wanted to point out that he held the cards. He needed to just tell me what he was here to tell me and get on with whatever was in this contract.

  “So ask,” he said. I thought for a moment. My conversation with Sarah last night still stuck out in my mind. I needed to know who was causing the chaos in Salem. It wouldn’t change my desire for justice for my mother’s death, but it may change my priorities for the time being.

  “Why are you and your father here?” I asked.

  “We’re here to stop the witch trials.” He wasn’t going to do more than answer the question I asked. I felt like a lawyer interrogating the opposing counsel’s client.

  “Who is causing the witch trials?”

  “A witch going by the name of William.”

  “Why are you and your father trying to stop the trials?”

  The corner of Cameron’s mouth raised in a half smile. I had hit on something here. He rocked back on two legs of his chair and ran his fingers through his dark hair. He looked so casual, like we were discussing the latest American Idol contestants rather than sitting in Salem in 1692 discussing life or death matters.

  “You see,” he began, “we are not what you think. Before I give you your answer, let me ask you, what do you think we are?”

  “Shadow Rulers,” I answered without hesitation.

  “We are not Shadow Rulers. My father is a Hunter.” Cameron leaned forward as he let his words sink in. I wasn’t sure being a Hunter was better, but it shocked me. I had never heard of a witch also being a Hunter. The two were contradicting terms. I stared at Cameron, not speaking and willing him to continue.

  “He believes we should not exist. He believes our abilities as witches are abnormalities that were passed on genetically because of an error our ancestors made. He feels these abilities should be removed or those with them should perish.”

  Several thoughts ran through my mind. Why was Cameron telling me this? Why did he keep saying ‘he believes?’ Did that mean Cameron disagreed with his father? He wasn’t saying that, but it was somewhere between the lines. Finally, what did this have to do with our current circumstances?

  “So why are you here?” I asked again.

  “William has the opposite mission of my father. He thinks all those who are not witches should perish. My father came here once before and convinced William to sign a contract removing his abilities. If he had known how strong William would become, he wouldn’t have given him the option of a contract. William’s contract was among the contracts you burned in the bar. Now that he has regained his abilities, he is not willing to part with them as easily.”

  “Is that why you needed me here?” I asked him.

  “Yes. You are the only one who can destroy William at this point.”

  “How could your father come here more than once if he already interfered with the Salem Witchcraft Trials before?” I couldn’t figure this one out.

  “He had a different time traveler bring him here. Before me,” Cameron explained. I thought I caught a hint of misery in Cameron’s voice, but I wasn’t certain.

  “Do you agree with what Evan is doing?” I had gotten off topic, but I suddenly had to know. Cameron paused. He stared out the window into the late morning sun.

  “I’m not sure,” he finally answered. “I thought what he was doing, hunting witches, was wrong. That’s part of why I wanted you to burn the contracts. Now, I don’t know. It turns out William is just the beginning. There are many more witches out there who were freed from their contracts and were able to become Shadow Rulers or worse. Maybe there is something to his being a Hunter after all.” Cameron did not look at me until he was done speaking.

  “Hunting all witches is not okay,” I said as coolly as I could manage. “My mother was a good person. Stefanie is a good person. How can you help him hunt witches?” Oddly, I felt betrayed in some obscure way.

  “I have to obey my father,” Cameron tried to explain. “I have no choice.”

  “That’s ridiculous. He’s an evil man. Stopping someone like William cannot make up for all of the good people he has killed.”

  “Maybe not,” Cameron conceded. “Then again, maybe there is no sacrifice too large for the good of the many.”

  Cameron reached inside his coat and pulled out several sheets of paper. In order to save Stefanie, Evan wanted me to enter into a contra
ct with him. Magical contracts could be burned by a firestarter, but not if the firestarter has signed the contract. I would have a choice to make with my friend’s life as the prize to either claim or forfeit. I felt like Cameron’s words about sacrifice applied to me as much as they applied to his view of his father.

  The first contract he showed me required my help regaining the contracts I had destroyed. All of them. I couldn’t do that, not for anyone.

  “I don’t want to forfeit Stefanie’s life, but I can’t help Evan with anything else. I will agree to help go after William, but I cannot undo everything I accomplished that night in the bar. I cannot hunt down all of those witches with him, regardless of their guilt or innocence.” I held my breath and waited. I prayed Cameron would have another option ready. I wanted to save Stefanie, but the cost of letting Evan and Cameron go was already steep enough.

  As it turned out, Cameron had several contracts, all of which Evan had already signed. When I signed one contract, I would be bound by it. After much debate, we came to an agreement; I would help Evan and Cameron in either destroying William or using my gift to convince him to sign another contract. Evan wanted to gain William’s abilities if we could persuade him to sign another contract. I refused to agree to those terms.

  We eventually agreed on a contract that would not give William’s abilities to Evan. Rather, it would disperse his abilities to all witches. I would not agree to help with any other contract. I was bound to work with Evan without hurting him. We were entering a truce that would come to an end twenty-four hours after the situation with William had been resolved. As soon as the situation was resolved, Cameron would bring me Stefanie before that twenty-four hour grace period had ended.

  I lifted the quill we had borrowed from John Hale’s desk and dipped it in ink. I hesitated, unsure if I was doing the right thing. Cameron urged me on.

  “They are already pressing Giles Corey, as we sit here passing the time,” he said.