Book of Enchantresses

by Mary Ting

  I shouldn’t care what happened to Kelly. She was a demon—right? But spending time with her had made me care. This was not good.

  Finally, Keira settled, but that didn’t mean she was fine.

  “Should we do something?”

  Ezekiel’s question got my calming pulse to skyrocket again.

  “No, not yet. We need to give her more time. Five minutes is not enough.” Balen hiked his eyebrows at me.

  “Uriel, go get some fresh air.” Jonah tilted his head to the door.

  “No.” I didn’t mean to snap at him. I cleared my throat. “I meant … I’ll wait here. Just in case. I gave Keira my feather to keep her grounded. If she’s getting to the brink of the void, my feather will yank her back in.”

  If she wanted her reality back.

  Chapter 38

  The Dream.

  Keira

  My legs dragged through the tall grass, my body heavy. My mother. No. Not my mother, but a woman. A woman I recognized, with silver and dark gray light glowing around her, waited for me with her arms opened wide. Behind her, our cozy cabin in the woods.

  She wrapped me in her arms and swung me around. My white dress flapped as if I had wings.

  Wings. Feathers. White feather. Someone gave me …

  “My sunshine.” She kissed my forehead and set me down.

  “Where’s Papa?” I asked.

  “Go inside. Papa is waiting for you.”

  Mother’s sweet, lively voice sounded different, more monotone.

  Instead of skipping to the house to see Papa, I stayed. Something was wrong. Out of place. I felt it in my gut.

  “Go inside. Papa is waiting for you,” Mother said sternly and a bit louder.

  I ignored her and glanced around. Mother’s laundry hung on a line, drying. White sheets flapped like wings.

  “Go inside, Keira. Papa is waiting for you. I’m not going to ask you again.”

  Mother’s tone grew harsher, but I ignored her.

  Wings. Feathers. White feather. White feather. Someone gave me …

  “Sunshine.”

  My chest tightened. Father’s angry tone brought me back to now… Here, but where was here?

  He didn’t sound kind or happy, not like before. I shivered. For the first time, anxiety flushed through me. For the first time, I didn’t want to be here.

  “Papa?” I walked in. “What is it, Papa?”

  Papa seemed taller. His eyes narrowed, and his lips tight. Not happy. Not happy at all. I wondered what I’d done.

  “Why didn’t you listen to your mother? She had to ask you three times. Go to your room.”

  “I’m sorry, Papa, but …”

  The white walls … the walls were white. White like angel’s wings. So white. It hurt to look at them.

  Everywhere. The walls were everywhere. They blocked me in, overpowering me.

  The air stole my breath. I needed to get out.

  Go home.

  Go back.

  Back to where? This was my home.

  No. Not my home. I didn’t have parents.

  “Keira, go to your room.”

  At Papa’s angry words, the closing walls disappeared. I entered my bedroom, afraid of what Papa would do next. I wanted to cry, but no tears came.

  Mama waited for me by my bed, eager to tuck me in, but the sun was still out.

  “I don’t want to sleep.” I flinched at my own raised tone.

  “Don’t be disrespectful. I’ll let it go this time because you’re not feeling well, sunshine. You’ll feel better in the morning. I promise.” She extended her hand. “Come here. I’ll sing your favorite song and tuck you in.”

  “But I didn’t eat supper.” I rubbed at my tummy. My white dress … so white like an angel’s wings.

  No, like a feather.

  Had given me a feather.

  His feather.

  But not the papa with me.

  He’s not my papa. Not my papa. Not Papa.

  The ground shook. Papa rushed in.

  “Tuck her in. Make her go to sleep, or this is all over.”

  Papa didn’t sound like Papa. His voice sounded like a woman’s, someone I knew. Rough and harsh.

  Kelly. Who was Kelly? Why did that name sound familiar?

  “Come to me, Keira.” Mama tapped the bed. “Hurry. You can stop this. We’re happy here. Mama and Papa and you. We can be like this forever. Oh, look. Here’s Angel.”

  Angel entered my bedroom, wagging his tail, and jumped on my bed.

  The ground shook harder and faster. The pots hung in the kitchen rattled. Dishes shattered on the ground. Furniture shifted.

  The white walls looked like angel wings. Spreading and growing, even under my feet. Like living vines, they curled around my legs, and I could feel the warmth and unconditional love. Love so true and not from this world, this place … this place so wrong.

  Not my home. My home was with the white wings. Tears streamed down my face. The love consumed me. It called to me, telling me to come home. Real love and not fake love waited for me. Then something inside me clicked, and I knew me.

  I was no longer Keira the child who had no voice, who couldn’t stick up for herself. But a grown up me, who knew exactly who these two people were.

  Papa rushed to me. No, not Papa, but Kelly.

  I put up my hand. “Stop, Kelly. Your days of manipulating me are over.”

  A blinding golden glow burst from my palm and froze her in place. In the bubble of my prison, her features morphed into her true form—Kelly. Then I extended my other light to Mama and did the same with her. She transformed into Liana.

  Two bodies floated off the ground, both in the prison I’d created. Lightning bolts crackled between them. The wind blew like a tornado, trashing everything in the room.

  “No! Don’t do this,” Kelly bellowed.

  A part of me pitied her. She hadn’t asked to be a demon. Hadn’t asked to be the bearer of an extra half of a soul. But I had no choice.

  “Sorry, Kelly. You knew this had to be done. If you are the true vessel of my mother, then you have nothing to fear.” I brought their bodies together. “A child of love and scorn is the key. For the gatekeeper she will be. I am the gatekeeper. Let the two merge and release my mother.”

  Two bodies melded into one. The light around them grew and took over the space. Thunder struck, and lightning bolts arced throughout the room, blinding me.

  Then boom.

  The room exploded.

  Chapter 39

  Last Breath

  Uriel

  I paced to keep sane. I paced from one wall to the next, from one corner to the other. Time ticked away. The longer Keira took to come back, the more I worried.

  All seemed fine so far. No more twitches from Keira or the others. But then light beamed around all three of them, and it began to extend outward, covering the floor like a fast-moving fog.

  “Everyone, duck!” Balen shouted just as we were knocked off our feet.

  I flew, collided with the wall, and collapsed.

  I blinked until the room came into focus. We gathered around the three. I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t to find Liana and Keira still knocked out. But Kelly moaned and seemed to be coming out of the dream state.

  “What’s happening?” Paymon asked Balen. “Why isn’t Liana waking up?”

  The desperation in his voice had me almost ask the same about Keira, but I kept calm.

  “I’m looking.” Balen trailed his finger along the words from the book, frantically searching.

  By his side, Lotus read along with him.

  “Ur… iel,” Kelly whispered. Moaning, she lay frozen as if trapped.

  I kneeled beside her. “Kelly. I’m here.”

  I should be furious with her. I should want to kill her, but I only felt empathy. Our short time together had softened my heart. I’d gotten to know her as a human being and not a demon, a being who held half my love’s soul. She held her memories, her pain, and
love.

  “Uriel. I can’t feel my body. I can’t see you.”

  Kelly’s eyes were open, but she locked them up to the ceiling. I took her hand in mine.

  “Your hand is so warm,” she said, shivering.

  I didn’t tell her, but Kelly’s hand felt cold as ice.

  “Where are Liana and Keira?” I tamed my urgency, at the same time afraid to hear her answer.

  “I don’t know.” Her words lacked any emotion and energy. “I think I’m dying.” Tears streamed down the side of her face. “I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to be with my daughter and you. It’s not fair. Why did I have to carry Abigale’s memories? These emotions are too strong and they hurt. I hurt so much.”

  “I’m sorry.” I dipped my head. “You’re right. You didn’t ask for this. I wish I could make this easier for you.”

  Everyone glared at me. I ignored them and listened to Kelly. It was the least I could do.

  “I imagined the two souls joining in me. Then Keira, you, and I could live in the cabin my aunt left me. We could be a family finally and live in peace. We could make up for the time lost. We could be so happy.” More tears flowed from her eyes. “But I understand why everyone favored Liana. She was loved. She had a happy home. She’s beautiful and not crazy like me. I’m the evil seed, and I should be the one put to death.”

  “That’s not true,” Balen said with conviction, peering up from the book. “We don’t have a choice in this matter. The two souls will combine, and the souls decide, not us. I know what it’s like to be ostracized. I’m useless to my family, or that is what they think.”

  “You’re not, Balen. It is the reason why the council chose you.” Lotus placed a hand on his shoulder. “Have you found the answer?”

  He nodded. “Kelly is dying. When she takes her last breath, Liana and Keira will wake up.”

  “I can’t hold on, Uriel.” Kelly’s voice grew weaker, her breathing labored. “I suppose I wasn’t meant to live long. Do you think your God will forgive my sins? Can you pray for me? I believe I changed when I met my daughter. I knew in my heart I couldn’t have the life I dreamed of, but I tried. Perhaps in another lifetime, I’ll have a family of my own. Thank you for listening to my story, about my life and how I came to be. Now someone will know who I was. I will be implanted in your memory. My name. My life. Me. You knew me. And I won’t be just a demon that deserved to die. Please tell Keira I only wanted to love her, to be the good mother she deserved.”

  Then she closed her eyes and exhaled one last breath. A dim glow seeped out of her body, the final thread.

  As a soft light weaved and twisted around Liana and Keira, Kelly’s body gradually faded and disintegrated to nothing … until she was no more.

  Chapter 40

  Abigale

  Keira

  Everyone stared at me when I sat up, my head spinning. I looked to my left. No Kelly. Then I gazed to my right. Liana smiled at me from a sitting position with her legs crisscrossed.

  Obviously, I was the last one to wake. How long had everyone stared and waited for me?

  “Hello, Keira.”

  “Uh. Hi,” I said to Liana and looked at Uriel for reassurance.

  Uriel nodded, urging me to continue.

  “Are you still Liana? Who are you?” I didn’t mean to sound rude, but I’d had a rough dream, and my body felt like it had gone through a wringer.

  Liana’s eyes beamed, filling with tears. “Yes. My body is still Liana’s, but I remember. I remember I had a child, but she was so young. And you.” She raised a hand to my cheek. “You’re Keira. I can see your baby face.” She let her tears fall, her hands clasped together trying not to fall apart. “I’m finally back to you. It was all that mattered to me.”

  A part of me told me she was full of it, but why would she say that? And Kelly was gone. I had successfully done my job.

  “We have a lot of catching up to do.” Her lips quivered. “I know this is awkward, but I promise to make up for all the time lost. I knew you were in good hands.” She gazed at Ezekiel and smiled, and then back to me. “This is kind of complicated because I also have Liana’s memories.” She stroked her cheek. “And her face. I’m going to need time to adjust. And Malum is not going to like this.”

  “Forget Malum. You are not his.”

  I had never heard Uriel so protective as he was now.

  “Uriel, we’ll talk later. But for now, I need to explain to him what happened to me. Regardless of what he did, he thought he was doing the best for me, even if it satisfied his selfishness.”

  “Come on. Let me take you home.” Paymon helped Liana up and slinked his arm around her shoulder.

  Liana turned and gave me her hand. I wanted to refuse, but I clutched her hand and rose. It wasn’t my mother’s fault her soul had split. I wondered if she’d suffered.

  “I’m going to need a place of my own. I believe Liana intended to move out anyway,” Mother said.

  So strange. She looked so young. Liana could pass as my older sister.

  “You can stay with me and Keira.” Ezekiel stood up from his stool.

  “Keira lives with you?” She sounded so happy.

  “Ezekiel wouldn’t let me have a place of my own.” I shrugged. “I think he took being protective to another level.”

  She laughed. A pleasant sensation coursed through me. Her happiness lifted my spirits.

  “I’m going to let the demon family know what has happened to Liana so they don’t think you’ve kidnapped her. This is going to be so awkward. I also need to adjust to the advanced technology. Liana’s memory will help me, but … anyway, I’ll have Paymon take me to your place afterward, Ezekiel, if that’s all right with you.”

  “Sure. Paymon, I’ll text you my address.”

  “And what about Uriel? Do you have a place of your own?” My mother’s eyebrows lifted.

  “No. I don’t.” He was short and to the point and a bit tight around the edges.

  “Oh, I see. And your brothers?”

  “A long story, but I need to help them.” He couldn’t meet her eyes when he spoke.

  Seemed like they had issues to discuss. And the love I’d thought I would see between them was nonexistent. I could understand the hurt Mom harbored since he’d never gone back for her. Not to stick up for his sorry ass, but he’d never known she was pregnant, and he’d thought he was keeping her safe.

  “There’s one more thing we need to do before we’re settled.” I crossed my arms to hold myself together. “Now that this is over, we need to rescue Suri.”

  “I’ve asked Balen to look into it.” Jonah ruffled his feathers as if he needed to stretch his wings.

  “Thank you,” I said, surprised he’d thought of my friend.

  “Of course. Anything for you. I mean, anything to help.” His cheeks turned slightly reddish.

  “No need for Balen to search.”

  “Why?” I narrowed my eyes at Uriel, anger flashing through me.

  “I know Lucifer and how he thinks. He’s going to use Suri to portal here. Then he’ll trade Suri for one day on Earth.”

  “We’re going to let him have that one day, right?” I anchored my fists on my hips, sounding like a spoiled brat, but I didn’t care. My friend’s life was on the line.

  “Yes, we will. Then I’ll deal with Lucifer.”

  Lotus cleared her throat. “Okay. I think I’m getting claustrophobic in here. Let’s meet up later. Balen, I’m going with you and Liana.”

  “Wait.” Liana placed a hand out. “My name is Abigale.”

  “Yes, of course, it is.” Lotus patted her arm. “However, people will call you Liana and you’re going to have to answer. You have her face and body, remember?”

  “Yes.” Abigale closed her eyes, sighed, and then reopened them.

  “Very well. Let’s get to it,” Lotus said.

  After they left, Uriel, Jonah, Ezekiel, and I headed out of NU.

  Chapter 41

  A Privat
e Reunion With Cain

  Awan

  I entered the abandoned building after looking over my shoulder to make sure no one followed me. A stale scent tinted the air. Sunlight filtered through the shuttered windows on the tenth floor, highlighting the thick dust on the cubicles and the ground.

  Footprints indicated someone had been there recently or was still there. Taking my time, I ambled down the aisles, sometimes stepping over pieces of glass, crumpled paper, or office supplies. I pivoted to the back of the building, where no light shone.

  There. The stamp of left and right feet on the dusty floor took me right to a man splayed across a desk.

  I halted several yards away from him. “Why have you asked me to meet you here, Cain?”

  He carefully got off the desk and adjusted his gray suit jacket. “Took you long enough. I almost fell asleep.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I had other matters to deal with first. You know I don’t drop and run to you every time you call.”

  Cain raked a hand through his sleek black hair. “You should, especially when I do things for you.” His dark brown eyes turned ruby. “I unleashed the newborn vampires as you requested, now where is my payment?”

  “Did you get rid of all the newbies you created?”

  “Yes. Dom killed a few, but they told him what you wanted him to hear. Malum and Dom think the TO ordered the attack, do they not?”

  “Yes. You did well.” I swayed my hips and placed a gentle hand on his high cheekbones. “I want you to know I appreciate your help. You have such a pretty face.” I lowered my hand to his lips and traced my finger over them. “So soft … You’re so distracting.” I moved closer and closer, drawing him in.

  Cain was taking the bait. His twinkling eyes told me he wanted me. And the way his lips parted to take mine confirmed he forgave my tardiness. Slowly, I slipped my hand inside my pocket and took out my weapon.

  Cain backed away and yanked my hand from his face, spun me around, and gripped my other wrist so hard that I dropped the syringe.

  “You don’t fool me, Awan. I’m a vampire, remember. I can smell deceit. And you’re so predictable.” He snapped the vial in half and tossed it.