living covenant 03 - eternal covenant (23 page)

“Your name isn’t bad,” I said. “It would be better if it was spelled correctly. That’s neither here nor there, though. You’re going to have a bachelor party. I don’t care if I have to throw it for you and act as a stripper.”

“Now we’re talking,” Aric said, smiling. He reached over and grabbed my hand. “If this starts to go bad … .”

“I’ll burn first and ask questions later,” I promised. “We can’t play defense here. We have to play offense. You know that. I know you do.”

“I do know that,” Aric confirmed. “Are you sure the protection spell on the house will hold?”

“Paris said it will, and I trust her,” I said. “She’s taking care of that end and we’re taking care of this end. It’s going to be okay.”

“It had better be,” Aric said. “I don’t have the power to bring you back from the dead, and now that I’m a semi-virgin there are a lot of things I want to do. I can’t do them if you’re dead.”

“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Drop the barrier, Zoe,” Aric ordered. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Yes, sir.”

It took only a second. I reached out with my mind and dropped the dome, waiting a moment before stepping over the former barrier and into the woods. “Hey! Yo, witches! I’m here and I want to talk. Don’t make me come looking for you.”

“Yes, that’s exactly the way you should approach this,” Aric muttered, moving in behind me and putting his hand on my hip. “Let’s taunt the magical sociopaths.”

“I think they shot their magical wad last night,” I supplied. “I think they saved up for one assault and the magic they have left is weak.”

“I think that’s probably wishful thinking,” Aric said, although he nudged me forward. “Let’s go. They’re not going to approach us in the open. They’ll want to surprise us … or at least think they surprised us.”

I moved into the trees, sliding my hand into Aric’s and walking forward. I opened my mind as far as I could and searched for a hint of something, a trace of anything. Everything was too muddled to focus on a single source.

“There’s definitely more than one person out here,” I whispered.

“How many do you sense?”

“I’m not sure. At least three – possibly more. There are definitely three strong personalities. Of course, my personality is stronger so I’m going to swallow them whole.”

“I don’t think that’s as terrifying a threat as you think it is,” Aric said. “In fact, it’s kind of turning me on.”

“That’s because you’re a pervert.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Aric said.

We spent the next twenty minutes searching the woods. We didn’t want to go too far from the house, but each time I thought I got a sense of something – or someone – I lost it. I was ready to topple over the edge and embrace my frustration when Aric suggested returning to the house.

“They’re playing with us, Zoe,” Aric offered. “We should regroup there and let them come after us in a place where we’re strong.”

“They did that last night and almost killed us.”

“I know,” Aric said. “I don’t like that they haven’t approached us, though. The longer we’re out here the more uncomfortable I am leaving people at the house without us. You’re the threat they want to avoid unless they have the upper hand. What if they want something at the house?”

“Like what?”

“I have no idea,” Aric answered. “Maybe they think The Archimage is there. They might not know what happened to it.”

That thought hadn’t even occurred to me. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” Aric echoed. “Rafael is there, but he can’t do anything unless they go into the basement. I don’t like this. Something here is … wrong.”

Now that he said it, I felt it. “Let’s go.”

We set a brisk pace back to the house, breaking into a run when we heard Paris yelling for us from the back deck. I hurried up the lawn, frowning when Paris finally registered our presence.

“What’s going on?” Aric asked, fighting to catch his breath.

“They made it past the wards,” Paris said, practically choking on her words. “I don’t know how they did it. They must be more powerful than we realized.”

“Did they take anything?” I asked, reaching for the stair railing that led to the deck.

“They took Kelsey.”

“Sonovabitch!”

23

Twenty-Three

^“
How in the hell did this happen?”

I lashed out with my magic, scattering the deck furniture until it crashed into the guard railings. Paris shrank in the face of my fury.

“I … .”

“Calm down, Zoe,” Aric ordered, seemingly unperturbed by my fit. “Go inside. We can’t talk about this out here.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

“Don’t make me carry you inside,” Aric shot back, his eyes darkening. He really wasn’t afraid of me. That made me feel a little better, though I had no idea why.

I kicked the potted plant by the back door as I entered, sending it rolling into Aric’s path. He stepped over it as if it was supposed to be there and shut the door behind him.

“Is anyone hurt?” Aric asked, scanning the room.

“It happened too fast for anyone to get hurt,” James answered. “It was over within sixty seconds. We didn’t even see it coming.”

“How did it happen?”

“We were all gathered by the back window watching you guys – hoping to catch a glimpse of you through the trees – and … I don’t know … they came in from the back. They had their hands on Kelsey before we realized what was happening.”

“And then what?” Aric prodded, his patience on display as mine took a back seat to overt rage.

“There were three of them,” Pemberley supplied. “They were all young. I would say early twenties at the most. The blonde looked to be a teenager if I had to guess. I’m bad with guessing human ages sometimes, though.”

Aric pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, risking a glance in my direction before turning back. “Did they hurt her?”

“They just took her,” Mom said. “The one girl had a knife and she pushed it against Kelsey’s throat. They didn’t threaten us. They just took her.”

“Which direction did they go?”

“They disappeared in the woods on the east side of the house,” James answered.

I strode to the window facing that direction and squinted as I tried to catch a hint of movement. There was nothing.

“They had to have said something,” Aric pressed. “Maybe they said a warning … or even talked to each other.”

“They did talk to each other,” Dad said. “They said they had to hurry before the mage got back. They were obviously talking about Zoe.”

“And knew we were in the woods,” Aric supplied. “They expected us to move. They expected us to leave the house unguarded. I told you this was a mistake.”

I wanted to lash out, but he was right. Instead I lowered my head and stared at the empty sink. “I know. This is my fault.”

“No, Zoe, that was a horrible thing to say,” Aric said, moving up behind me. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s the truth, though,” I said. “I was feeling high on life and thought no one could touch me. They couldn’t. What I forgot is they could touch my friends. How could I forget that, given what’s happened before?”

“Zoe, don’t do this right now,” Aric chided. “I need you at your evil best to figure out how we’re going to get Kelsey back.”

“My enemies have taken my parents … and you … and Paris … and held you all against me,” I said, lost in thought as I tried to get control of my racing heart and rolling stomach. “They never come after me. They always go through my friends. I should’ve seen this coming.”

“Well, great! This is exactly what we don’t need,” Aric snapped. “You need to get a grip, Zoe. Feeling sorry for yourself won’t bring Kelsey back. We have a limited timetable to work with here.”

I didn’t immediately answer him so he heaved a disgusted sigh and turned back to everyone else. “We need to figure out what they’re doing, and we need to do it now.”

“The only way to do that is to make Zoe use her new gift,” Rafael said, appearing in the hallway. He was careful to stay in the shadows and not risk the sun. “That will help us find Kelsey.”

“How?” I asked, frustrated. “I don’t have memories of these … witches … to contort. What am I supposed to show them?”

“Have you learned nothing over the past few days?” Rafael challenged, taking me by surprise with his vehemence.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I said, fighting the urge to cry. “I don’t know how to save her. Short of burning the entire forest down, what can I do?”

“You managed to suck Aric and yourself into a safe place yesterday,” Rafael reminded me, refusing to adjust his tone despite the eye daggers Aric lobbed in his direction. “You were being bombarded, yet you managed to keep your wits about you and protect yourself. How did you do that?”

“I didn’t consciously do it,” I hissed. “It just … happened.”

“I don’t believe that,” Rafael said. “Part of you knew what you were doing. You did the one thing – the only thing – that could save both of you. Then, once inside, you figured out a way to heal yourself.

“You didn’t do that because you were determined to save yourself, although I’m sure that was a nice byproduct,” he continued. “You did that to save Aric. Now you must do the same to save Kelsey.”

“But … I don’t know how,” I said, hating how whiny I sounded. “What happened yesterday was a fluke.”

“You brought Aric back from the dead,” Rafael charged. “Don’t bother arguing. We all know he was dead. He might’ve been dead for only a few seconds, but he still died. You saved him.”

“Kelsey isn’t dead,” I said, my voice cracking.

“Knock it off, Rafael,” Aric warned, his tone low and threatening. “Don’t push her. You might not like what happens if you do.”

“I don’t believe for a second that she would hurt me,” Rafael replied calmly. “You don’t believe she could ever hurt you either. I see it. Your parents aren’t so sure. That’s their one worry about building a life with Zoe. They try to hide it from you, but I see it.

“You’re looking at this the wrong way, Zoe,” he continued. “Don’t look at it as going after the enemy you need to know. That’s a secondary concern. Look at is as going after the friend you do know.”

Realization washed over me and I finally understood what he was saying. “Oh.”

“Oh what?” Paris asked. “Did he just explain something? If he did, I don’t get it.”

“I’m not sure I do either,” Aric admitted, rubbing my back. “What are you saying?”

“She can get in Kelsey’s mind,” Rafael explained. “She’s already been there. She showed her a memory. That’s a parlor trick. The true trick was getting in Kelsey’s mind at all. She did it with me, too.”

“But … she has to touch Kelsey to get in her mind,” Aric argued.

“Does she?” Rafael arched an eyebrow. “I’ve seen nothing to suggest Zoe has to touch anyone to do what she does. Her other magic works remotely. Why can’t this?”

“I get what you’re saying,” Aric said, his voice rising as excitement overtook him. “Zoe can reach out to Kelsey and find out where she is.”

“That will level the playing field,” Rafael said. “The witches expect us to come after them. They don’t realize Zoe has the power to lead us straight to them. They’ll try to play games with us in the woods, separate us. That won’t be a problem if Zoe knows where we’re supposed to go before we even set out.”

“We?” I asked. “You can’t go out in the sun.”

“I have faith you will get around that particular problem, too,” Rafael said. “I made the mistake of underestimating you numerous times when you were younger. I will not make that mistake again. You can do this. I know you can.”

“What if she can’t?” Helen asked.

Rafael ignored her. “Find Kelsey. You’re the only one who can, Zoe.”

TWENTY
minutes later I locked myself in my bedroom. Concentrating with a roomful of people watching you isn’t easy, and after ten minutes of fruitless searching I made my escape. Now I had no excuses.

I closed my eyes, briefly thinking of Kelsey’s angular features and odd green eyes. I thought of her laughter. I thought of her mischievous smile. Then I found myself floating.

My mind left the bedroom, flew over the yard, and headed into the trees. I was bodiless but not mindless. It didn’t take long to find Kelsey. She was close to the river, not quite in the spot where the totem had stood but only a mile away along the riverbank. I recognized the spot. I talked to a wolf there a few weeks ago, one I would end up killing to save my parents.

I saw Kelsey with my mind’s eye before moving into her head. She was terrified, yet she refused to show it to her captors. There were five witches there, all young like Pemberley described. They were feeling pretty good about themselves, too. I took a moment to listen before knocking on Kelsey’s internal door.

“Did you see the look on the witch’s face? I thought she was going to pass out … or cry. We totally took her by surprise.” The speaker was a young brunette, her cheeks round and flushed as she bobbed her head up and down. “We totally beat them.”

“We haven’t beaten anyone yet,” the lone blonde challenged. “The mage is going to be pissed. She’s going to come looking for her friend. We have to be ready for her.”

“How do you suggest we do that?” one of the other girls asked. “She’s powerful. She should’ve died last night, yet somehow she saved herself and the wolf. Then she managed to slam some sort of force field over the house. The only reason we got in is because she went out.”

“Yeah, how did she do that?” one of the other women asked. “That shouldn’t have been possible, should it?”

“She’s trickier than we thought,” the blonde witch said. “I’ll give her that. We’re in control now, though. She’ll have no choice but to deal if she wants her friend back. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she realizes what we want.”

“How are we going to stop her from taking what she wants?” the first girl asked. “She could storm into this clearing and take this one before we get a chance to tell her our demands.”

“Not if we set the wards,” the blonde said. “The wards will stop her. Then we’ll have her exactly where we want her.”