Six For Gold (Black Crow Chronicles Book 6)

by Jen Pretty

  "Wait," Nick said as I strode past him, the intent of getting back to the Sanctuary and hiding in my room until the earth ended.

  "What?" I asked, stopping at his light hold on me.

  "We will get it back. Everything is going to be okay."

  I scoffed. "Will it?" because it seems like this crazy-ass witch is just causing more and more problems. If the three of us can't overpower her, then who can?"

  "There are more people ready to help you than just Colvin and I." He let go of my arm, and I stayed where I was. I knew he was right, but it still didn't feel right. I was circling the drain just from not being able to raised wraiths. It was ridiculous. I needed to get my shit together, but a pity party sounded more fun.

  "Yeah, everyone is here to help me because I can't even stand on my own two feet." I started a brisk walk back toward Sanctuary, but Nick's voice floated to me from behind.

  "Maybe you've been standing on your own two feet for too long."

  I didn't acknowledge his remark. I simply kept walking and pretended I hadn't heard him. Nick had always been my cheerleader. Even when I was doing something foolish. Well, slightly foolish, anyway. Maybe I was doing something more than slightly foolish.

  That was tomorrow's problem. Today, I had a date with my comforter and pillows. I wished, not for the first time, that the Sanctuary came stocked with alcohol. Being a school, it didn't cater to the whims of an overgrown idiot like myself. But a girl could dream.

  I could hear Nick's feet shuffling through the leaves and pine needles behind me, and his presence was offering more comfort than I felt I deserved. But when I hurried, he just kept pace until I jogged the last distance between the trees and the door.

  Once I was through the door, I raced to my room, slamming the door behind me. I wasn't positive I was even safe inside the Sanctuary, but it made very little difference to me at that point.

  I was curled under the blankets, feeling numb and stupid, when there was a hurried knock at my door, followed by the sound of it opening.

  I was about to tell whoever it was to get lost when Alar's voice shocked me. "Colvin ran way."

  I flipped the blanket back. "What?" My pity party was officially crashed.

  "He grabbed Gracie between classes, and the two of them took off. We have a video of them racing down the driveway."

  My hands shook as I pulled my boots back on. A witch was hunting for me. A hoard of wraiths creeping me. A threat to the boundary between the underworld and ours, a fucking wizard child to deal with, but sure, let’s add Colvin making a break for it.

  Just what I needed.

  "Let's go," I said, grabbing my cell and leading the way out of the room. I sent a text to Nick and Falcor in our group chat. Both were in the cafeteria, but the time I got there with Alar. Oban was with Falcor.

  "We have to go track down my brother."

  Crow appeared above the group of us.

  "About time you showed up," I complained to the bird. But he didn't stop flapping, just zeroed in on my stomach, and I knew what was happening. "Just leave me where I fall," I said. "We have to find Colvin."

  Those were the last words I spoke before Crow slammed into me, ripping me from my body. I was looking out through his eyes as he slipped through the wall of the cafeteria and out into the dusky evening light.

  Crow's eyes were sharp, and he quickly flew up high to get a better view of the area. The gate at the end of the driveway was open slightly. Wide enough for a couple of young kids to slip through. We headed that way.

  Falcor was shifting with Oban, the two of them tracking Colvin and Gracie, while Nick ran. His nostrils flaring. I was sure that he could track Colvin as well as any bloodhound.

  Crow's feathers ruffled in the cool breeze that picked up. It would have sent a chill down my spine if I had been in my body, but Crow was hot as he flapped toward the setting sun. I wasn't sure how far a pair of kids could get, but there were abandoned buildings across the street from the Sanctuary. They could have hidden in any of them, but Crow's eyes tracked Nick as he raced past all of them and down the quiet street toward the city. It wasn't a terrible place or particularly dangerous, but it wasn't safe for a child either.

  Nick took a turn at one of the outskirt streets. Crow flapped higher until I could see where the road led. The bus station was at the end of the street. If he had gone there, there was no way anyone would have sold him a bus ticket. No one in their right mind.

  Nick entered the station, and Crow circled us above for a few minutes until Nick came back out again. He looked up at us, and Crow dropped from the sky, landing in front of Nick.

  "He was here, but I think he used his magic to compel people to do what he wanted."

  That kid was in deep shit when I found him.

  Crow let out a caw.

  "As far as I can tell, he and Gracie are on a bus headed south. Do you want to try and catch up with it, or wait for a car to pick us up, and we can chase it down that way?

  Crow leapt into the sky, his wings taking us higher and higher until I could see the horizon.

  I watched as Nick raced off, apparently understanding Crow's reply, though I still had no idea what Crow was planning until he began soaring off in the opposite direction of home. We were going to track him down.

  I tried to just rest while Crow flew, but I was so on edge, I couldn't. We needed to find him. And now. I was already kicking myself for being a jerk in the forest. If anything happened to him because of this, I would be wrecked.

  The long winding road below trailed off into the distance, but I could see a set of tail lights near the end. As we got closer, I realized it was brake lights, and the vehicle wasn't moving.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Nick was still running, but he was lagging, Crow's wings able to get us places faster than the vampire could run. I saw Falcor pop up with Oban and thanked God someone has contacted him. I couldn't speak to anyone while I was riding along with Crow, so when we approached the bus, we were lucky to have someone who could.

  Falcor stepped onto the bus, which was idling on the highway, the door open. Crow did a quick circle around the bus, but the windows were too dark to see in. It felt eerie, though, even if I couldn't see on the bus. It felt abandoned.

  That thought was confirmed a moment later when Falcor stepped off again.

  "There's no one on the bus."

  "Are you sure it’s the right bus? Oban asked.

  Nick caught up to us, sliding to a stop beside Falcor. "It's the only bus that has left in the last 6 hours. It must be the right one."

  "So, where is everyone?" Oban asked.

  We stopped and listened to the silence of the night around us on the abandoned stretch of highway. Crickets croaked, and the wind whistled through trees, but there were no human sounds.

  Falcor glanced at Nick and raised an eyebrow. "I don't hear anything."

  "They couldn't have gone far," Oban said.

  But we all knew they might have all been swept up by Colvin or the witch who was trying to get to me. Either way, we had very little hope of finding them if that was the case.

  That was when the silence was broken with a shattered scream. We were all moving toward the sound a second later, Crow's wings took us higher, Nick ran with an unmatched speed of a vampire, and Falcor grabbed hold of Oban and shifted him into the thick forest as far as he could see, then shifted him again until we couldn't see them beneath the canopy.

  As Crow rose higher, I could finally see beyond the trees to a canyon that cut a deep score into the forest, dropping down to a river. The echo of the water slamming against the rocks below filled my ears with a memory. The nightmare of Gracie falling off a cliff. A spike of adrenaline and fear tried to race through me, to make me go faster, but I wasn't in control anymore. I was a passenger. I had chosen to be a passenger long ago when I kept a distance between Crow and myself every time he snatched me up for a joy ride. I cursed myself at that moment and tried to encourage him to fly faster.
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  I knew what I would see. And as a blast of wind slammed into us, fear overtook me. I wouldn't let Colvin lose his only friend. I let go.

  Finally, I let it all go. I stopped trying to keep space between Crow and me. I was the crow, and the crow was me.

  Fuck it all.

  I needed to get there faster, and I would do whatever it took. So, when we finally fell through the tops of the trees, and I saw the dozen people milling about in the forest with dazed looks on their faces, I didn't even take time to slow and find out what was wrong. Instead, I went straight for the girl.

  "I knew you'd come!" a cackle called out.

  I ignored it and pushed my power into crows. I gave him everything, ripping every last shred of the distance between us so we could be as one. And as one, we slammed through the forest, tree trunks whizzing past like freight trains and closing in on the little girl who was running toward the canyon at break-neck speed. She wasn't laughing now. She was running in fear, and her fear only sent my wings flapping harder as I struggled to get to her. We couldn't let Gracie die. Not if we wanted Colvin to live. We had no idea where that thought came from, but somewhere in our subconscious was a set of words I had read back in my first days as the black crow… words about how those with darkness could choose darkness or they could choose light.

  I hadn't realized until that moment that I had chosen light. I had made the conscious choice to think the world was worth saving and that I could be the one to do it. But Colvin hadn't chosen yet. He was still young and impressionable, and I wouldn't let him grow up thinking the world was bad. He had found a beacon of light. Gracie was his flicker in the dark, and I wouldn't fail him now.

  Finally, our wings carried us closer and closer to the girl. I could see the sweat beading on the back of her neck as she ran, her ponytail flying back out behind her like a flag.

  Her short legs were still carrying her closer to the edge of the canyon, but I believed I could catch her. I believed that Crow and I could do it, so we flapped our wings one last time and then dove, feet first, toward the back of her jacket.

  A sharp scream lashed out as she fell off the edge, and my talons snatched ahold of her.

  Her weight dragged us down, nothing beneath us now but a hundred feet of ragged rock leading down to the raging rapids below. Time nearly stood still for a long beat, then the scream came again, breaking the silence.

  My wings crumpled, but I stretched them out and forced my power to the thin bones and delicate ligaments that held my wigs on my body. We were one now. There was no space between Crow and me, and we were stronger than ever before.

  So, when a heavy wind slammed into me, I didn't crumble again; instead, I fought to make my wings flap. The pressure was so intense that I wanted to give up, but I wouldn't let this last piece of humanity fall.

  First, my strain made us stop falling, but I had to dig deeper to get us back up the cliff. A flash of blue flared, turning all the world around us into a shade of sky blue so serene I thought I had already died. But my talons were still gripping Gracie's jacket.

  I looked up, straining every muscle to find Oban peering down at us. His hands were out at his sides, and power poured from him, saturating the whole area, and giving me the boost I needed.

  So, I flapped again, and this one was stronger than the power of the wind the witch was forcing down on us. We gained some height and then more. We climbed up the rocky side until I was able to peek over the side onto the grassy land. I pushed harder and managed to get Gracie up over the side, but I wasn't done yet.

  The wind died, and my eyes tracked back to where the witch was standing.

  Nick had arrived and was trying to attack the witch, but she had Colvin in her arms again. This time she didn't have my knife in her hand, but it was at her feet as if she had dropped it, and only Nick's attacks were stopping her from reaching down and plucking it up. Colvin was yelling, his fingers wrapped around the witch’s arm as if he would never let her go this time.

  "Selena!" he screamed, and I set Gracie down beside a tree. The young girl slumped down against the rough bark. I was certain she was fine but had passed out.

  I flew back through the forest, aiming myself directly at the witch’s head, but before I got there, Falcor showed up. I had no idea how Oban had beat him to the area, but I was thankful he had. I hoped I would have time later to ask him, but before I could relax, the witch raised an arm and lashed out a stream of magic toward Nick. The magic was black and oozed with an acrid smell that I could pick up even with the distance between us.

  Nick jumped back and then tried to scramble away, but the magic was quickly wrapping around him. Tight enough that he let out a grunt of pain.

  Falcor began muttering under his breath, holding his arms out to his sides. I saw the moment his magic flooded the whole area. It wrapped around the witch’s magic, tearing it from Nick with a sound of metal scraping metal. Nick slumped to the ground, but Falcor wasn't done yet. His magic formed a circle, blocking off the witch's escape. Oban was staring at me as if I were Santa Claus, and I didn't understand what he was doing until I passed over his head in my path back to the witch, and he raised his arms.

  Magic, pure and powerful, slammed into me so hard it made my head spin. So much magic. More than I had ever experienced before.

  It filled me up, and I overflowed. The entire forest came alive with my sparks of power. The trees and leaves all sparkled blue, the ground looked like the palest sea, and everyone in the space became nothing more than a pulsing flash of light.

  The witch screamed out loud, an agonizing, tortured noise that sent a thrill through me. One I didn't want to look too closely at, but it sent a sick thrill through to my bones.

  One more hard flap of my wings, and I slammed into the witch, snatching up her soul and stuffing it in beside mine. Beside ours. Because now I could see Crow's soul too. His flash of light that made him who he was sat tucked beside mine in a rainbow of colours.

  The witch fought, but we were too strong for her.

  We were stronger than anyone else as I ripped through time and space. The galaxies collided in a private light show.

  I vanished into the underworld, dragging her rotten, foul soul with me.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  (Nick)

  "When will she be back?" Colvin asked. He had been asking the same question several times a day since the day that Selena snatched up the witch and vanished. Her knife went with her. The only thing Colvin and I had was her body. We had set it in her bed, covered her with a blanket, and waited.

  "I don't know, buddy," I replied. The forest was busy today. Birds jumping and tweeting as if the world was fine. But it wasn't fine.

  Colvin's small hand felt too fragile in mine. The world without Selena was like that too.

  "Maybe she's back already," he said, tugging me toward the Sanctuary. We walked most days now. He couldn't sit still in class, so Alar had excused him from them temporarily, though he still had some studies he had to do daily.

  I found it hard to make sure he did them. But it was better than him getting in trouble every day. His mood could take a pretty quick turn.

  I hurried along with him. His legs were too short to push me to go much faster, but I let him tug me along anyway. Maybe she was back, I thought. I thought the same every time he suggested it. He could see the future sometimes, so his positive attitude just inflated mine. So far, he hadn't been right. But I was clinging to him as tight as he was clinging to me.

  We slipped through the cafeteria door and dodged the chairs and tables until we were back in the hall outside the classrooms.

  The walls painted with glittering sparks of every colour imaginable was a constant reminder that one spark wasn't there. One spark wasn't even walking the earth anymore. I corrected it in my mind. She wasn't walking the earth right then, but she would be again soon.

  Colvin's shoved open Selena's door and dropped my hand, bouncing across the room and landing on the bed beside her.
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  His tiny hand cupped her cheek, and I had to watch as his excitement drained away for the thousandth time.

  "Not yet," he said. His brave smile, I knew, was for my benefit. Maybe the balance of who was supporting who was a little more skewed than I wanted to believe.

  "She'll be back soon."

  "Have you seen her?" I asked.

  Colvin just smiled. "Don't worry, Nick. She promised never to leave me again."

  The last time they had spoken was before he had run away. They fought, he bolted. I wasn't sure how he was still so positive she would come back. But who was I to ruin his hope?

  "Knock knock," someone said from the doorway. I turned to find Jax standing at the door. He might have protected Colvin when he accidentally killed Falcor's father, but I still didn't trust him.

  "Hey, Jax," Colvin said, springing from the bed. "She's not back yet."

  "Soon, I'm sure," Jax said,

  Colvin nodded.

  "You ready for lunch?"

  Colvin took his hand, and a ripple of jealousy tried to take hold. I pushed it down. I had business to take care of anyway.

  "I'll see you later, buddy."

  Colvin waved, and the sound of his voice trailed down the hall as he told Jax all about what he had been up to since he got up that morning. I wanted to chase him down and make him stay with me. What if he had a vision of her?

  I looked back, her hair was as white as the sheets, but I knew it was also soft as feather down. I dropped to my knees and let my fingers trail across them for just a second. Being strong was part of being the king of vampires, but she made it hard to be strong when she wasn't even here.

  "Come back," I whispered.

  I heard a scuff on the floor and thought that Jax had returned, but turned to find Oban in the doorway.

  "Oh hey," I said, rising and crossing to where he stood.