Authors: Rachel Carrington
CHAPTER SIX
The sky darkened overhead and the clouds bumped together in frantic
anger.
The first splatter of rain
smacked Emily in the center of her head and she ducked, looking for cover.
In the distance, she saw an abandoned cabin
and with a rush of glee, she darted toward it, but for the briefest of moments,
it disappeared.
She stopped and stared,
waiting for the cabin to come back into view.
When it did, she began to walk toward her, her pace hesitant.
The eerie cackle pushed chills from the top of her neck to
the bottom of her feet.
Emily froze and as the deluge began, she knew she was no longer
alone.
***
“You can’t go back with me.”
Skye continued the same argument she’d been making for the past ten
minutes.
Rane didn’t remember exactly
when he’d tuned her out.
“I need to tell the others we are leaving.”
He heard the gurgle of irritation as he
passed by Skye and knew he had company the second he stepped out into the
corridor.
The marble staircase stood
ahead and for a second, he contemplated making a short stop inside the Serenity
Chamber, but as Skye gained ground behind him, he knew peace would be the last
thing he’d find with her on this journey.
“Rane, you’re not listening to me.”
“You’re very intuitive,” he pointed out.
She caught up with him and smacked his shoulder.
He stopped.
As a wizard, he wasn’t used to being abused in any fashion.
Skye’s slap stunned him more than hurt
him.
“Good.
I’m glad I finally have your attention,” she
said with a hint of smugness in her voice.
“Now, as I was saying before you walked out on me, you can’t go with
me.
I have to do this alone.”
“Who says?”
Skye blinked at him, her green eyes clouded with confusion.
“Who says what?”
“Who says I cannot go back with you?”
“Well, I do for one.”
“Is there a rule book you are going by?”
More blinking accompanied Rane’s question and Skye tilted her head
to one side.
“Are you trying to confuse
me?”
“Is it working?”
He saw her grit her teeth.
“Rane, I have a purpose in returning.”
“So tell me this grand purpose.”
“Stop mocking me.
This is
serious.”
Skye looked down at the floor
and Rane’s heart took a tumble.
The
feeling nearly strangled him.
He
couldn’t remember the last time a woman had touched his heart, let alone a
mortal one.
He slid his palm alongside her cheek.
“I know it is serious, Skye, and that is
precisely why I cannot let you go alone.”
“I won’t let you go with me.”
Rane chuckled.
“Sweetheart,
have you forgotten you are in my world now?”
Her eyes flashed her irritation.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You cannot leave without me.”
***
Sabrina clapped her hands together gleefully.
She’d found the little brat.
With a little help from the Master and the
goddess Hecate, she’d lost little time in locating the treacherous girl.
And unless she missed her guess, they would
soon have company.
Sabrina settled down in a comfortable chaise lounge, her legs
stretched out in front of her and a bowl of chocolate covered cherries at her
right hand.
The glass-encased house
she’d constructed so quickly wouldn’t have been her first choice in
accommodations, but it would do to enjoy the little reunion between Emily and
her sister.
She stayed far enough out of
sight and yet, close enough to feel the happy emotions running through woman
and child.
Right before Emily killed her own sister.
***
Skye changed into a pair of jeans and a lightweight cotton
sweater.
Then, after pulling on a pair
of hiking boots Rane had provided her, she sat down on the edge of the bed and
curled one hand around the pendant she kept hidden close to her breasts.
“Mom, I promise you, I’ll find her.”
The gold nugget vibrated and Skye felt her mother’s presence.
“I know you trust me to take care of
Emily.
I made a mistake, let down my
guard.
It won’t happen again.
I’ll watch out for her.
Sabrina will not win.”
She stood without releasing the pendant.
“I just wish I knew how I was going to do
it.”
“I thought we had already covered that,” Rane spoke from behind her.
Skye whirled around.
“Do you
always eavesdrop on private conversations?”
“I was not aware there was anyone else in the room you were
conversing with.”
Skye dropped her hand to her side.
“My mother.”
One eyebrow lifted.
“Your
mother?
Your mother is…”
“Dead, I know.
I still talk
to her.
It isn’t a crime.”
She tugged her sweater down and marched past
him.
“We should get going.
We’ve wasted enough time.”
Rane’s hand curled around her upper arm.
“One more thing.”
“What now?”
“I will not let you sacrifice yourself to save your sister.”
For a brief moment, Skye was speechless.
How could he have known?
Then, regaining her composure, she twisted
the doorknob.
“You worry about getting
us there.
I’ll worry about solving the
problem once we arrive.”
Rane wrapped one arm around her waist and Skye shot him a
glance.
“What are you doing?”
Even she heard the hesitation in her voice.
He grinned down into her upturned face.
“Getting us there.”
“Couldn’t you just blink or something?”
“And miss the ride?
I do not
think I want to do that.”
He grinned and
winked down into her upturned face and Skye thought she saw the merest hint of
mischief in his eyes before the atmosphere began to tip and swirl and as Skye
squeezed her eyes shut, she heard Rane laugh.
***
They touched Earth seconds later, but to Skye, it felt like an
eternity.
The rain-soaked leaves
squished beneath her feet as she took two steps forward.
“She’s in the forest somewhere.
I can feel her.”
Rane’s hands came to rest on her shoulders.
“We’ll find her.”
She leaned back against his chest and didn’t allow herself to wonder
why she needed his strength.
“I just
hope we find her before it’s too late.”
“You have to stop thinking like that, Skye.
Sabrina wants something and she can’t kill
Emily until she gets it.”
“She wants me dead,” Skye whispered.
“Well, don’t feel alone.
She
wouldn’t mind seeing me as a corpse, either.”
He winked at her and took her hand.
“Can you use your magic to find her?”
Rane smiled wryly.
“Wizards
don’t track humans very well.
I can
sense when someone is in danger, but I’m not getting that feeling right
now.
If Emily is here, she’s safe.”
“There’s a big difference between safe and without harm, Rane.
Sabrina could still have her.”
Rane squeezed her fingers.
“There is another witch in the forest.”
Skye sucked in a breath.
“You
feel her, too?”
“From the moment we got here.”
He closed his eyes and tipped his face to the sky.
“We should go east.”
Skye didn’t question him.
She
simply followed his lead while constructing her plan
.
***
Night fell quickly, obscuring their path and creating threatening
shadows.
Even the trees seemed
unfriendly in the darkness, but Rane walked ahead, shoulders erect, steps even
and calm.
Skye relaxed a little as she walked behind him.
Though her magic might be a little rusty, she
knew it would come to her aid should she need it, but it helped to know Rane
was with her.
Sabrina might be expecting
her, but she’d be more than surprised by Rane’s presence.
The winds increased and more raindrops began to pummel the
Earth.
Rane whirled around, took Skye
into his arms and rose above the downpour.
Skye clung to him, looking down at the clouds of fury.
“Can you stop this?”
“The witch didn’t create it and I think we can use it to our
advantage.”
He pointed downward and Skye
tried to follow his finger, but the driving rain, the swirling clouds and inky
blackness offered little help.
“I can’t see anything.”
Rane pulled her closer, drew a circle in the air and parted the
clouds.
“Don’t you recognize your own
sister?”
Tears filled Skye’s eyes as she honed in on Emily’s sleeping
form.
She’d taken shelter inside a
dilapidated cabin and through a hole in the rusty tin roof, Skye saw her curled
on top of a narrow cot.
She slept with
her knees close to her chest, like she normally did when something had
frightened her.
Skye’s eyes
narrowed.
“We need to get her.”
Rane held her close, but he didn’t move.
“We will.
In time.”
“Sabrina could be nearby.”
“Do you think I cannot handle one witch?”
Skye tapped him
lightly on the chest.
“You can’t even
handle me.”
One side of his mouth tipped upwards in a crooked smile.
“I thought I was doing a fairly decent job of
it until Danni interrupted us.”
Skye struggled to keep her mind on her sister.
Rane’s eyes could make her forget everything
but the memory of his hands caressing her, his tongue swirling over her lips
and . . .
“Skye?”
He called her name,
his voice swathed in amusement.
Her head lifted and she gave him an icy stare.
“I want to get my sister.”
He dipped his head and kissed her.
“And we will.
The storm will be
over in a second.
Until then, we wait.”
“Why don’t you just stop the storm?”
“I could hold the storm at bay, but it’s better if we wait it
out.
Emily is safe for now.
We should leave her there and concentrate on
finding the witch.”
“Will you please stop saying witch like it’s an obscenity?”
Rane grinned at her.
“Did I
strike a nerve?
I thought you weren’t a
witch.”
Skye ignored the last comment.
“Not all witches are bad.”
“Granted.
I happen to think
one particular witch is very good.”
Skye’s skin heated with the look from his eyes and she quickly
looked away.
“Where do you think Sabrina
is hiding?”
“If she’s like any other typical witch, it’s some place obvious.”
Skye twisted in his arms and her foot dangled close to the top of a
gray cloud.
A spark of electricity
captured her leg, climbing up her vein in an instant.
She gave a shout and tried to pull back, but
Rane held her close and pressed one hand against the top of her thigh.
The pain subsided and Skye went limp.
“I couldn’t stop it,” she whispered.
Rane continued to rub her thigh.
“What?”
“The electricity.
I couldn’t
stop it.”
“How could you have stopped it?”
“It’s my . . .” she tipped her head back to see his face.
“You already know.”
He brushed her hair back behind her shoulders.
“Yes.
I’ve always known you’re a witch, Skye.
It changes nothing.”
She sniffed and looked away from him.
“But I couldn’t stop that electric shock.”
“What are you trying to tell me, Skye?”
She placed her hand on top of his.
“My mother could have stopped it.”
Rane turned her to face him.
“You’re not your mother.”
She cupped his face in her hands and the razor stubble scratched her
palms.
“That’s exactly the point I’m
trying to make.
Maybe confronting
Sabrina is a bad idea.”
Rane put one finger against her lips.
“Will you stop worrying?
It was never my intention to let you take
care of Sabrina.
That’s what I’m here
for.”
“Rane, she’s different.
More
powerful than any other witch I’ve ever known.”
Rane lifted his head and searched through the broken clouds.
“You think her magic isn’t all her own?”
“The thought’s crossed my mind.”
Rane faced her again and all Skye saw was calm reassurance on his
face.
“It doesn’t matter how much power
she has, Skye.
She will be defeated.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Rane grinned broadly.
“Because I don’t have to be sure of her to be sure of me.”
***
Sabrina stood and peered through the copse of trees.
Where in the hell was Skye?
It shouldn’t have taken her this long to find
her sister even with her limited abilities.
Frustrated, Sabrina paced her glass chamber, hands on hips.
“Don’t tell me I’m going to have to lead you here myself, Skye.”
“Patience,” came an echo from overhead.
Sabrina froze.
She recognized
the voice immediately.
Goose bumps
leap-frogged down her spine.
“You’re
right, Master.
It was a momentary
lapse.
I will be patient and I will
wait.”
“Do not attempt to pacify me, Sabrina.”
The Master’s displeasure hit Sabrina like a
slap to the face.
She staggered back, holding
her cheek.
“You would be wise to focus
on your mission.
The witch will
come.
She is attached to the little
girl.”
Sabrina bit down hard on her lower lip.
“For whatever reason.
I found the child to be quite distasteful.”
The Master chuckled and the sound bounced off the glass walls.
Sabrina’s goose bumps quadrupled.
“Your enemy has arrived, Sabrina.
Can you not feel her?”
Sabrina wrapped her arms around herself and looked out into the
night.
She saw nothing.
Felt nothing.
Other than the fear of the Master’s presence.
She wished he would leave.
She needed him to leave.
“Why can I not feel her?”
She whispered the question.