“We’d all die a terrible and painful death. I know.” Devlon looked back at the spot where once a house stood, but only Elizabeth remained. Her rage was so hot that the house was within minutes merely embers and ash.
Now that the birds were on their way, Elizabeth had to remain calm to keep her connection with so many of them. She had only tried this once before and had only managed to manipulate a few birds at once. Her anger fueled the control and for anyone in her way that only meant defeat.
Three hours, she stood waiting and watching through the eyes of the birds. Nothing. Not one sighting of the white-haired witch. Breaking the connection with the birds, Elizabeth turned to the three men who stood propped against the car watching her and waiting. “Nothing. Not a single sign of her.” She stomped toward the car, “I don’t know where she went but I don’t think she’ll be a problem anymore.”
“She could be in hiding.” Devlon commented.
“Or, she could be dead.” Jeremy snipped back.
Elizabeth froze. Dead? She thought. Turning to look over her shoulder Elizabeth felt dread build up in her heart. She never meant to kill anyone and with no proof of life… there could only be death. The young innocent teen who less than a year ago was introduced to magic felt her soul shattered into a million pieces. A tear fell down her cheek. Getting in the car silently, she spoke just above a whisper to Devlon, “Take me home.”
“Alright love, we’ll go home.” He responded as he saw the realization of murdering someone had hit her hard.
Nearing Edom’s house, Elizabeth finally spoke again, “Not here. My home.”
CHAPTER 18
Sitting in the car outside her home, Elizabeth stares straight forward. Her body frozen as her thoughts are chaotic with the belief she may have just murdered someone. Sucking in a breath, “I need you to leave me here. I’ll text you when I’ve sorted all this out. I mean it too. I have to face them alone.”
Not looking at her, he knew her soul was being tortured. He had no idea if Raquel was dead or not but even he started to fear the temper of the young witch he wanted to make his own. Edom had manipulated the situation to his benefit once again and Devlon feared what the result would be if Elizabeth ever discovered the truth. Taking his pendant in his hand, he spoke softly, “These connect us. I can feel your pain. Your anguish. You know I love you but I, also, know you have to work this out too. I’ll be here when you need me.”
Elizabeth slipped out of the car without a word and waited for Devlon to leave before she approached the house. She could see the curtains flutter and her heart dropped. How was she going to explain all this to her mom, but she had nowhere else to turn? She knew that only the women inside that house could help guide her and make sure everything was set straight.
The door creaked open, inviting Elizabeth in, no one stood in the doorway, so she knew they were waiting for her. The house was dark as the sun began to set, no candles lit, no lights on. The only light seeped in came through the windows from the setting sun. Stepping through the threshold, Elizabeth felt a tingle on her skin. Trying to shake it off, not knowing that it was a spell to bind her, she tried to go into the den but found she couldn’t move. The door slammed shut behind her. Her eyes widened with panic. She struggled to free herself. Pulling at her legs to move her feet that seemed to be cemented to the dark hardwood floors, her heart raced. She began to look around nervously, not knowing what to expect next.
“No use. The three of us enacted a binding spell that will only break free if we, together, want it to,” Reba’s voice was in her head.
“Where are you? Why have you done this? I need your help. I came here for help!” Elizabeth cried out to her.
“Oh, I think you know why! We know what you did! We warned you to stay away from Edom and his merry band of magical thugs. You just wouldn’t listen. You’ve been a witch less than a year and look at the mess you’ve made,” Raina was now speaking aloud. Her voice gushed with anger and disappointment. Elizabeth was crushed. She had never heard her aunt speak so harshly but she was right.
Elizabeth hung her head, “You’re right but he said she was going to attack the coven. When I tried to talk to her she ran. So of course, I thought she had to be guilty, so I had to make sure she wouldn’t hurt you. I did it for you.” Elizabeth pleaded, tears falling down her reddened cheeks.
Sari stepped out of the shadows, “Raquel is a good witch and a better friend. She would never hurt us or anyone.”
“But she slammed the door in my face and ran when I introduced myself, she-”
“She was scared. This morning Edom destroyed her barn, nearly destroying her.”
The shock on Elizabeth's face revealed that she had no idea about Edom’s earlier visit. This time the voice that came from the shadows was softer, “He is evil. You almost killed me you know.” Elizabeth froze.
“Almost?”
“I’m still alive thanks to a cloaking spell. Those damn birds were a nuisance though!”
“Wait. Edom was there earlier?” Elizabeth asked then thought aloud, “was that his errand?”
“Errand? Is that what that devil said! He wants my land. It sits on a ley line that he has been after for decades. He is trying to start his own coven ya know.” Raina and Reba joined Sari.
Her eyes went wide, she covered her mouth to keep the cry trying to escape muted. Elizabeth fell to her knees, “How could he do this? I thought he was changing. He said he loved me.” Looking at her mother with pleading eyes, “I am so sorry mom. I never would’ve hurt anyone except to protect you. You have to believe me.”
Sari said with some compassion, “It’s not me you need to apologize to.” She turned, and Raquel stepped from the shadows.
“Raquel. I can never make up what I did to you but please know that I thought you were after my mother and aunts and I… I had to protect them. When you ran… it made me…” Elizabeth burst into sobs.
Raquel went up to Elizabeth, putting her arms around her she whispered, “Sweetheart your mother and aunts told me everything when I got here.” She held Elizabeth up to look into her eyes, “I know you have a good heart, we just need to get it back on track.”
“Thank you. Thank you.” Her words barely audible between the sobs.
Raquel stood, “But you need to make this right. You need to determine whose side you are on.” Her voice turned harsh and understandably so. Hesitating for a moment she knelt to look Elizabeth in the eyes, “You have to fix this and stop him from manipulating you or anyone else like this ever again.”
Confusion filled Elizabeth eyes, then anger. Each word played back in her head. Each moment of the last month replayed like a film as she remembered everything that happened. How easily he twisted his desires to get her to do his bidding. Slowly standing her tears began to dry, her eyes hardened, and the anger began to show. Looking towards her mother and aunts, then to Raquel, “I may never prove myself fully, but I will make this right. I promise you that.”
Sari smiled a sad smile, she knew that making it right meant Elizabeth had to release her powers again and that was dangerous. She took a chance and stepped closer to her daughter, “Would you like to learn the side of magic that helps people? The side of magic that brings life instead of destroying it. Would you like to truly be in a positive position in this coven?”
“Yes. Yes, I would. I have learned so much and now I can see that the influence Edom had on me was dark. I want to be the best healing witch I can be,” her face darkened, “but first, I must attend to my father.” She looked at the women before her, “Will you release me?”
Seeing the flames in her eyes they knew that releasing her could result in the death of Edom. A death that was a long time coming, also knowing that such an act would leave a dark mark on her soul Reba nodded anyway. “You know that you will have to work hard on regaining our trust.” Elizabeth nodded. “You know that if you go after him, it will likely end badly for him.” Again, the young witch nodded. “You came in here pleading thinking you ha
d taken a life, what if that were to come true?”
Elizabeth calmed the fires in her eyes, “I knew that if I had taken a life it was wrong. A life that I felt was not meant to be taken. It tore at my soul not knowing but Edom, he has manipulated me for the last time. I can’t let him get away with this. He…,” she struggled for the words, “he is supposed to be my father and all the while he only used me.” She stopped suddenly and thought back to the words her grandfather spoke about how twins gain the powers of their deceased halves. If she were to continue on the path Edom set before her, it would be Jeremy gaining all of her powers and she knew that could never happen. Looking at her mother she asked, “What power did you gain from your twins death?”
Sari sucked in a breath. She hadn’t expected that question. Reba and Raina looked at their sister with compassion as she answered, “I can make things grow. That is the power I gained.”
Elizabeth’s head tilted just a tad as she continued to think, “Among us we can manipulate air, water, thoughts, fire, life, I can also talk to animals and dream walk. And, you, what can you do Raquel?”
Swallowing hard and looking to Sari for direction, Raquel replied when given a nod to go ahead, “I can rebuild from ash. Not things like a house, I’m not that powerful but smaller things.”
Her brows scrunched deep in thought, “I have an idea. To get Edom under control. Once and for all.”
Her aunts and mother began to whisper allowing the binding spell to release her. Once free Elizabeth looked Reba, “We need an earth mover. Can you get one?” Reba nodded. “Good, now let’s go over this idea I have.”
CHAPTER 19
It took the women four days to get everything planned out. Elizabeth refused to let her father get away with the evil manipulation he had managed. She felt foolish to think that he actually loved her for her. She had wanted to believe with every ounce of her being that the father she missed her entire life wanted to be in hers. It was time now to make things right in her world but first she had to go and see someone.
At the cafe, Jewel greeted Elizabeth cheerfully, “Hey. It’s so good to see you again. What can I get ya?”
“Sit,” was all the young witch could offer back. Her expression blank and harsh but she needed to get things going and Jewel was her ticket in.
“Um, okay. What’s wrong?” Jewel slid into the booth across from Elizabeth trying to decipher the expressionless face staring back at her.
“How close are you with my father?”
“Oh. Well. I’m not.”
“You were at his home. You ate at his house.”
Jewel laughed, “He begged us all to be there. He said it was the only way he could convince you to come. I figured strength in numbers and all.”
Elizabeth thought back to all who all had attended, people she had some. Some she knew and some she didn’t, but it did ease her tension. “He begged?”
Jewel picked at her fingertips, “Well yeah. He bothered me for a week straight. Said to bring faces you’d recognize.” She shrugged, “Hell I figured it was a free meal and a plus to see you again.” She waved her hand motioning to the cafe, “outside of work.”
Elizabeth sat back in her chair and thought about this revelation. Once her thoughts were clear she leaned forward and said, “I need your help.” Twenty minutes later Elizabeth walked out waving her goodbyes to Jewel.
Pulling out her phone, she sent a message to her mom, “Stage One is set. Off to the elves now.”
Sitting in her car in front of the elven home, Elizabeth nervously looked at the gates. She had not been here in person since before Wesley left and she had not given him any chances to explain himself since he came home. Her gut twisted with nerves, but she knew she needed him and his people to make this work. Pushing the door open, Elizabeth walked through the gates unimpeded and went straight to the door.
Before she could raise her hand to knock on the door it crept open, she remembered the last time this happened and hesitated to go inside. Fortunately for her, Kenan stood waiting for her. “He’s been waiting on you. You take forever ya know.”
Elizabeth roughed his hair with a shake of her hand, “Thanks kid. Which way?”
“The library, where else.”
Nodding, Elizabeth walked in and towards the library. Kenan followed her closely. “What’s on your mind?”
“Are you going to yell at him? It would be funny. No one ever really does, and I’d love to see that happen at least once.” His overdramatic expressions were funny, and Elizabeth couldn’t help but smile
Leaning towards him as they walked, “We shall see. If he doesn’t behave I just might have to.”
“I heard that,” Wesley said with a smile as he leaned on the library door. “Go on and play with the others, it’ll be lunch time soon.” He stood staring at Elizabeth, his heart racing and palms beginning to sweat.
“I. We. We need to talk.” Elizabeth finally stammered out.
Turning to his side, his arm swept out wide inviting her in, “It’s about time.”
Sitting on the chase across from Wesley, Elizabeth noticed every detail about him down to the color on his shirt. She didn’t realize just how much she missed him all these months. Devlon had kept her deceivably distracted and she hated herself for it now. Not knowing how to start the conversation, she found herself picking at her own fingers just as Jewel had done herself in the cafe earlier. Taking in a deep breath she looked up at him, “I need your help.”
He leaned forward, elbows on knees and fingers intertwined. His hair fell forward on either side and his eyes bore into hers, “Is my help all you came for?”
She glanced to the left, “Yes. No. Ugh, no but it is the more important of the two reasons.”
He smiled, and his eyes seemed to twinkle with delight. Her heart skipped a beat. Looking around in an attempt not to get locked into his gaze, she stuttered out, “I. I understand the reason you left. I understand so much more now than I did then when you came home two months ago.” She took another breath to calm herself down, “things have happened. Things that can’t be changed. BUT, I want to try and fix things. With the coven and us, if possible.”
Leaning back, he folded one leg over the other, resting his ankle on his opposite knee. Hands clasped in front of him, he watched her for a moment before responding. “You’ve spent more than a month with Devlon, Jeremy, and your father. This much I know. What I don’t know is what all you did? And why that would warrant you coming to me now.” His head twitched a bit and he looked towards the ceiling and nodded. “Would seem I should be more open to things. I am a bit protective and jealous about those I love. Mother seems to think I am at fault.”
Elizabeth smiled, “She is a good woman. But it’s not just your fault. I was being stupid. Hopeful and naive that my father who had never been in my life actually wanted to change and have me in it. He really had me believing he loved me for me and not my powers.” Her eyes filled and threatened to flow over, trying to blink them away Elizabeth continued, “I was with them. I did things I’m not proud of. I almost killed a woman.”
Wesley’s eyes grew wide, “You what?” His voice rose loudly causing Kenan to peep in through the door to see what was happening.
“In my defense I thought she was a threat to my mom. Come to find out my father was trying to take her land to start his own coven there. He has some grand scheme of having a coven full of warlocks. In the end of that scheme, I am to die, and Jeremy gain all my powers. So yeah, no dad of the year awards there.”
“Holy shit, Elizabeth. Is the woman okay? Warlocks?”
“Yes. She was smart and escaped. She ended up at my house. After the realization that I may have killed someone hit me, I had to go home. I had to make it right. When I walked in I was hit with the reality of what I had done and the truth of it all. Now, I have to make it right. Once and for all. And, yes I'm referring to them as warlocks because I think they are evil!”
“And us?” He motioned between them. She
went silent. Sitting there not knowing what to say. He questioned further, “You were with Devlon. Did you take him as a mate and bond with him?”
A tear slipped from her eyes, “No. I couldn’t. He wanted to, but I couldn’t.”
“Good. Then I still have a shot. What do you need from me?” His lip curled in the corner with a smile building.
“I need your people, shifted and willing to fight.”
His head tilted as he studied her. She was serious. She wanted the elves to shift and fight for her, with her against other witches. This was against the traditions and against all they believed. “We can’t.”
“Yes. Yes, you can. I know the rules that were given to the others and about interfering, but I also know a secret that not many living people know, not even your people know this.”
“I’m listening. So is mother and apparently Keenan.”
“The Seraphim told Sorina that while it was her duty to protect the humans and help keep peace between them and the others that if the lives and way of life for the witches were ever to be in danger, then and only then could she call upon them for help.”
“That was Sorina, not you.” Lady Doreen replied from the door, standing behind Keenan with her hands on his shoulders. Guiding the young elf to the half, she gave a little nudge to send him on his way. Regal as always, she was dressed in her finest gown and seemed to flow across the floor as she walked.
Elizabeth touched her pendant, then pulled out the wand and her grimoire she had inherited. “I have her tokens, her books, I also have her blessings.”
Lady Doreen looked surprised. She didn’t know Elizabeth had the wand and book but was curious enough to ask, “And how did you come about her blessings?”
Two words is all it took to get the elves on board and Elizabeth spoke them with confidence, “Dream Walking.”
CHAPTER 20
“Hey dad, yeah I’m okay. Just needed some time to think. Can we meet up?” Elizabeth spoke calmly into the phone.
A Moment of Darkness (The Chronicles of Elizabeth Fairbairn Book 3) Page 9
