“Yes, but there will, of course, be a few obstacles along the way,” Regan said.
“Oh, of course,” Karen muttered.
Regan grinned at her. “I kind of like you; it’s almost too bad you’re completely unnecessary to me.”
Karen glared back at him.
“If I were you,” Regan said, “I’d get started. The clock is already ticking.”
With a snap of his fingers, he vanished in a flash of blinding light. Avery flung her hands up to protect her eyes from the searing glow. Lowering her arms, she blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit hall. With Regan gone, the roaring blaze of the candles returned to their normal, wavering flames and she could no longer see the twist ahead of them.
CHAPTER 9
“Who was that and what is going on?” Talia’s voice quivered as tears rolled down her pale cheeks.
“That was Regan,” Sandra said as she straightened her rumpled clothes and hair.
“Who?” Talia asked.
“He’s a spirit from the past,” Karen explained as she released Avery’s arm. “He’s evil, he’s awful, and he’s supposed to be gone!”
“Could he have broken free of the binding because of the equinox?” Eric asked.
“No,” Reid said. “Regan’s spirit was bound to that skull, and we buried it in sacred land; I’m certain of it. He never could have broken free.”
“Well, obviously he could have,” Mario retorted.
“How though?” Karen whispered.
“Maybe the binding spell didn’t work.” Isla brushed back the strands of hair clinging to her face. “Maybe we only thought it worked.”
“No,” Avery said. “The spell worked. Celia and Beatrix told us it did, and we all felt Regan inside the skull. I’m also certain he was still inside when we buried it.”
“Maybe you didn’t bury it in the right place,” Karen said.
“I know we did,” Avery said. “Power emanated from that ground, and I would stake my life on the fact it was the right place.”
“You did stake your life on it, and all of ours,” Isla said.
“No, they’re right. The spell worked, and Regan was bound to the skull; we all felt that. Somebody let him out,” Sandra interjected as she surveyed the people surrounding her with a murderous gleam in her eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous! That’s stupid! No! Who would have done that?” a chorus of disbelieving voices yelled.
Avery remained silent as she gazed at Sandra with a growing knot of apprehension twisting her stomach.
“It’s obvious,” Sandra said when everyone quieted again. “The only way Regan can be free is if someone set him free. You all know it’s true. You’re just not willing to admit it to yourselves yet.”
The apprehension in Avery’s stomach rose to form a thick lump in her throat. No one spoke as they all gazed at each other with suspicion and anger.
“But who would do such a thing?” Karen whispered.
Sandra stared pointedly at Avery. “You knew he was coming but didn’t say anything to us.”
Avery choked on the lump in her throat, but somehow, she managed to sputter out a protest as all eyes swung to her. “No, I didn’t!”
Sandra raised a sleek blonde eyebrow. “Regan said, and I quote, ‘I told you I was coming for you.’ That sounds like you knew he was back.”
It took Avery a few seconds to find her voice as all their gazes bored into her. “On the first day of school, I had a nightmare about Regan, and he said he was coming for me. But because I was so worried about going to a new school, I wrote it off as just a nightmare. I haven’t dreamed about him since, so I believed it was a one-time thing. Besides, it would be odd if I didn’t have nightmares about him after everything he did to us.”
“How come you never mentioned it?” Sandra inquired.
She understood Sandra’s distrust. She wasn’t exactly feeling overly trustful right now considering Regan was free when he shouldn’t be, but they were wasting precious time right now.
“I thought it was a dream,” Avery grated through her teeth. “And I didn’t want to upset anyone over a dream.”
“Obviously, it wasn’t just a dream,” Isla said.
“And obviously, I didn’t know that at the time!” Avery retorted.
“You also have the strongest connection to him, and you had plenty of contact with his skull,” Sandra said.
Avery felt as if Sandra slapped her. They may be cousins, but Sandra had never been her best friend and probably never would be. However, she’d believed they’d gotten a little closer over the past couple of months and that Sandra trusted her. She’d been wrong.
“Enough!” Reid growled as he leveled Sandra with a glare that would have made most men tuck tail and run. Sandra managed to maintain her haughty air, but she did step away from him. “Avery did not release Regan from that skull. I do not doubt that, and if you think I’m wrong, then you can ask Rosie when you get the chance. She was with us.”
“If I get the chance to ask her.”
“His spirit was still in the skull when we buried it,” Reid snarled.
“Of course, you would say that,” Sandra drawled.
Avery knew Sandra was scared and angry, but she wasn’t going to stand there and be accused of something she didn’t do. “What about you, Sandra?” she demanded. “You have a connection to Regan too!”
“My ancestor had a connection with him, not me. I’m not the one who almost went to him the last time he came around!” Sandra snapped.
Sandra was right, but Avery hadn’t known what Regan was then. She hadn’t understood the strange pull he had over her, what he was, why his power was so strong, or why her power was so much stronger than everyone else’s in the coven. She’d been scared she was evil, like Regan, and that they belonged together like he kept telling her they did.
She’d learned that her powers were stronger because of Celia, her ancestor. A hundred years ago, Celia had cast a spell and sacrificed herself to ensure whoever Regan went after next would inherit the strength of her powers, plus the strength of the powers they had when they were born. Now Avery knew Regan was a creature who’d been around since the beginning of time. He’d told her he was created with the world to balance the good in it.
When she’d asked him if he was a demon, he’d replied that she could fit him into her definition of a demon. But that over the years, he’d also been called a God, goblin, Djinn, ghost, the Boogeyman, the Sandman, Freddy Krueger, or whatever else humans named the things haunting them in the night. That kind of power and age was something she still had trouble wrapping her head around.
When she first encountered Regan, she hadn’t known any of those things about him, and no one in the coven had blamed her for almost falling under his spell. Now Sandra was using her past ignorance as a weapon against her and blaming her for something Avery had dreaded happening with every fiber of her being. With Regan free, even if they made it out of this place before midnight, they would never know a second of peace again.
“Stop it!” Karen shouted and glowered at Sandra. “Fighting is not helping, and we have a time limit. Besides, I know, and if you would just think about it, Sandra, you also know Avery didn’t free him. If she had freed him, there would be no reason for this game, and none of us would be here. Regan would have no reason to force us through this maze if Avery was already on his side.”
Sandra blinked before her gaze swung to Karen, who was staring at her as if she were about to launch a right hook into Sandra’s perfect face.
“You’re right,” Sandra said as she eyed the rest of the coven. “And you did tell all of us where you buried the skull.”
“So,” Isla said, “you’re saying we can’t trust anyone.”
“Yes,” Sandra said. “Anybody in the coven could have released Regan.”
The coven shifted around her as they edged further away from each other. Avery battled the panic rising in her as she sensed a gulf forming between them. They needed to stick
together now more than ever, yet they were all looking at each other like they were as much the enemy as Regan.
“Anyone could have released him if they found his skull,” Karen said.
“No,” Mario said. “It would have taken someone with some magic to set him free.”
Avery clasped Reid’s hand. She hated the apprehension and distrust swirling through the group, but she couldn’t deny she felt those emotions too. Someone in the coven, maybe someone here, had set Regan free and released Hell on them.
“What is going on?” Talia demanded as tears streaked her face. “What are you all talking about?”
Avery sighed as Sandra rolled her eyes.
“She has to know,” Avery told Sandra.
“I’m not telling her,” Sandra sneered. “And if you’re going to do it, I suggest you do it while we’re walking. We’ve already wasted enough time here.”
Avery refrained from pointing out that Sandra was the one who wasted much of that time; it wouldn’t do any of them any good to continue fighting. Before she started talking and walking though, she had to check something. Dipping a hand into her pocket, Avery pulled her phone free. Before she saw the broken, blank screen, she’d known it wouldn’t work here but she still felt a twinge of disappointment. She slid it back into her pocket and looked up to find the others doing the same.
She placed her fingers over her crystal where it rested against her skin. Though it could be used to open portals between the worlds, it only opened those portals from the human realm. She couldn’t use it to open a portal that would lead them out of here. Since Regan had brought them here, it was up to him to let them go again.
“I’ll explain as we walk,” she said to Talia.
CHAPTER 10
The hall twisted and turned before them until Avery could only see ten feet in front of her. The further down the hall they traveled, the more spaced out the candles became. Karen, walking in front of her, was only half revealed as she moved in and out of the turns with Eric at her side.
“You have to promise that you will never reveal what I’m about to tell you to anyone,” Avery said to Talia, who was behind her.
“Or I will make you regret it,” Sandra said.
“Sandra,” Avery hissed.
“Our lives are on the line, and we’re trusting them to her. I’m not playing around; she tells anyone else, and she’ll wish she hadn’t.”
“We’ll all help with that,” Eric said; Isla and Mario nodded.
Talia paled, and her lower lip trembled when Sandra rounded on her.
“And after you hear what you’re about to hear, you’ll know just how much we can make you regret it. Understood?” Sandra demanded.
“Ye-ye-yes,” Talia stammered. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Good.”
Avery shook her head at Sandra, who didn’t acknowledge her look of disapproval. “Anyway,” Avery said and decided just to plunge in. “Regan is an evil spirit or demon or whatever he is.”
“He’s an asshole,” Karen muttered.
“That he is,” Mario agreed.
“And we’re witches,” Avery said to Talia. “With actual powers.”
“I’m not,” Karen said over her shoulder. “And neither are Tina and Lila.”
Talia gazed at them as if they should be fitted for straitjackets. “You’re kidding… right?” she asked hesitatingly.
“No,” Avery said. “I’m not kidding.”
“Told you I could make you regret it if you ever tell anyone about us,” Sandra said. “You haven’t seen what we’re capable of doing yet, but you will before we’re out of here, so keep your mouth shut.”
“That’s enough, Sandra. I think she gets the point,” Reid said.
“She’d better,” Sandra said.
Talia cringed away from her before looking pleadingly at Avery. “Anyway,” Avery said with an irritated glance at her cousin. “Regan has been around since the dawn of time. He was created as a way to balance the good and evil in the world.”
“And he’s part of the evil,” Mario said.
Talia still looked as if she believed they should be in a looney bin, but she hadn’t run screaming yet. Avery figured that had to be a good sign.
“Who is the good?” Talia asked tremulously.
“We are,” Isla informed her. “And so were our ancestors, who Regan tormented for centuries. He probably stalked them for millennia, but we only have a documented history for the past eight hundred years. Determined to turn them to his side, Regan went after our ancestors a hundred years ago.”
“Their coven and numbers were similar to ours,” Reid said.
“Numbers?” Talia asked in confusion.
“Each coven over the years had a different number of witches in it. Our parents’ coven was double what ours is,” Eric explained.
“The coven from a hundred years ago bound Regan’s powers after he succeeded in turning my ancestor, Celia, and Sandra’s ancestor, Marjorie, to his side. He would have tried to turn the rest of the coven too if they hadn’t stopped him,” Avery said.
“When Regan stood in the fire earlier, his injuries were from a cave-in created by that coven during their binding spell. Regan allowed his mortal body to die that day. Just like we can’t live here for a long time, Regan can’t survive on Earth without traveling back and forth between his realm and the mortal plane,” Reid continued.
“Which is why we think he went after our ancestors over the centuries,” Avery said. “He was working to make each consecutive coven stronger.”
“And now we think he’s figured out some way to use us, and especially Avery, to stay on the mortal realm for longer periods of time, if not forever,” Reid said.
“Why would he want to stay on our realm for longer?” Talia asked.
“Because he loves to destroy things, and our world is a good place for him to play,” Isla said.
“I’ve seen some of the destruction and misery he’s rained down in the past, and I know he plans to use us to do far worse. He may even intend to rule the world,” Avery said.
She felt so melodramatic saying that, but it was true. She didn’t know Regan’s intentions for their powers, but she suspected that whatever he planned could bring about the end of the world as they knew it. She didn’t want to die or watch her friends suffer, but if they weren’t free of this place by midnight, she would gladly sacrifice herself before she let Regan control her.
Talia paled as she gazed at them. “What realm is this?”
“It’s the Nightmare realm,” Eric said.
“Where anything and everything can happen,” Mario said. “And everything that happens is real. So, if you die here, it’s not just a nightmare, you actually die.”
Talia gulped. “What happened to that other coven?”
“Celia died in the cave-in with Regan,” Avery said. “When Regan’s powers were bound, the spell he cast over her broke, but Celia chose to stay with him and die.”
“Why would she do such a thing?” Talia asked.
“So the full power she possessed, both good and bad, would pass on to her descendant,” Avery answered. “Me.” Sorrow tugged at her heart as she recalled Celia’s sacrifice.
Talia stopped dead. “Your powers are evil?”
“No!” Avery cried. “They’re not evil.”
“They most certainly are not,” Karen said, scowling at Talia. “Some of their strength may have originated in black magic, but they came from a place of selflessness and love.”
Avery smiled at Karen, grateful for her unwavering love and support. “Yes, they did.”
Talia glanced between the two of them before looking to the rest of the coven, who were all staring at her with the same irritated expression Karen had.
“Okay, they’re not evil,” Talia said after a few minutes. “If that coven bound Regan, then how did he break free?”
“The binding spell ended after a hundred years. Twenty years ago, Regan regained his powers and us
ed them to awaken the powers locked inside our parents,” Isla explained.
“He then went back to his plane and waited to make his move,” Avery said. “We were all born two years later, and when our parents discovered the truth about their powers and Regan, my father decided to take me and leave Cape Cod to protect me. All our parents agreed none of us should know about Regan until we were older and kept it hidden from us.
“This summer, my parents decided it was time for me to learn the truth about what I was, and the coven awakened my powers. When they did, Regan saw it as his time to reemerge and come for me. He made some of us face our worst nightmares to save me.”
“We got away and created a binding spell that stopped him. The spell allowed us to keep our powers instead of sacrificing them,” Reid said.
“Or so we thought,” Sandra muttered.
“So, all of you have gone through this before?” Talia croaked.
“No,” Eric said. “Last time Rosie, Alex, Landon, Reid, Avery, Tina, Karen, and Lila faced him.”
“And we didn’t go through a maze,” Karen said. “It was more like a demented mansion.”
“We arrived later and in time to see Avery’s worst nightmare,” Mario said.
“Which was?” Talia asked.
“I didn’t know, or understand, why my powers were so strong,” Avery said. “I also felt this odd connection to Regan, and I was afraid I was evil, like him.”
“But she’s not,” Karen said.
“No, she’s not,” Reid said and slid his hand into Avery’s. His warmth and the callouses on his palm from his part-time construction job helped to soothe her.
“Why does Regan want you so badly?” Talia asked Avery.
“My powers are stronger than Celia’s were, and Regan wants to use them to help break free of this spiritual plane and reclaim his mortal form.”
Talia stopped walking and dropped her head into her hands to rub her temples. The others all gathered around her. Avery wanted to comfort her, but she wasn’t sure how Talia would take it right now. She’d come to a party to hang out with the one friend she’d made at her new school and ended up plunged into a nightmare.
The Maze (The Coven, Book 2) Page 5
