Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2) (19 page)

How could they?!
His mind screamed as the screaming in the house faded away.

When all was silent, he forced himself to look inside again. The infected were at the fence, groaning. “A bigger sacrifice will be offered at the end of the month,” the man said. He turned to Nancy. “Once again, I tell you, your son must be part of the community or he will be added to the list along with the others.”

“Rowan?” Kelsey asked.

The man nodded his bald white head and turned his cold hazel eyes to her. “He will not be missed.” He reached out, stroking her face. “You will find someone who will love you better.”

“Okay, papa.”

Papa?
He knew that wasn’t her father. So, he is called Papa. “We can leave after you all give thanks to the firsts.”

He watched his mom make her way to the fence. “Thank you firsts for helping us weed out the bad in our community. River will come to my side, I promise.”

“Good, Nancy,” Papa said.

River noticed almost too late he was going to get caught if anyone came out of the house. He knew a quicker way home. He ran into the darkness. He climbed over a fence and ran all the way home. He didn’t stop when he got to the porch and ran straight up the stairs. He sat on his bed and laid down when he heard the front door open. He rolled over on his side as he looked into the darkness. His mom climbed the stairs and opened their bedroom door. He waited.

“I hope you will come to your senses and go out with Misty. She’s not that bad and hasn’t changed much. But she’s better than being sacrificed,” she whispered into the quiet room before closing the door.

He sat up when he was sure she had gone to bed. For the rest of the night he thought about the sacrifices. He was pretty sure he knew who they’d be. And the only way to save his friends now was what? He thought hard about it. As dawn approached, touching its orange fingers to the darkened sky, he had come up with something. To help his friends, he had to turn on his friends.

****

Pavana sat naked in her front room. Her curtains wide open, giving her a good view of the storm.  She bent, lighting the last candle. The circle pulled on her bare flesh, giving her goose bumps. She sat on her knees before her burn bowl. She had written Autumn’s name on a piece of paper and placed it in the bowl. She stuck a bittersweet, herb-anointed, black candle upon the piece of paper and lit it.

“Death to the child this woman carries. I offer blood to make my spell complete.” She picked up the silver dagger lying beside the bowl and slashed her hand. The blood came quick, and she held it over the name and used her other hand to rub it over the black candle. She meditated on Autumn and the unborn child.

****

Autumn sat reading the book she had picked off the shelf. “Hey!” Stefan cried out. “Check this out, guys!”

They all went over to him. “What?” Anatha asked.

“Pavana and Moorgun are twin sisters, and they are over a hundred years old.”

“Damn, Pavana doesn’t look that old,” Mabon said.

“She has been using magic,” Shantaina said, “I knew that but for her own gain, I didn’t. She reeks of it.”

“I know why she wants us,” Autumn said. She felt sick to her stomach. “She has plans on using us like Moorgun does.”

“Does Pavana want to bring Arawen?” Stefan asked.

Aarawn shook his head. “If she can keep us locked up, Moorgun can’t get to us. But if we do get caught by Moorgun, she can call Arawen, and that would be the death of us and Pavana.”

“She keeps us locked up, and she keeps herself alive,” Anatha said.

“I know why,” Aarawn said. “She plans on feeding off our power.”

“Guys,” Autumn said as the room began to swim. “I don’t feel so …” Her knees buckled. Stefan was close enough to grab her. He laid her down on the ground gently. The pains started in her back and shot to the front of her belly. It felt as if her stomach was on fire. She grabbed for Mabon.

****

Rowan sat down at breakfast, noticing how oddly quiet River had been all morning. “What’s wrong?” he asked finally.

River looked at him and shook his head. “Nothing. Just thinking of the best way to ask Misty out.”

Rowan choked on his cereal. “Excuse me?” he asked just as a great pain ripped through his abdomen. “Ow!”

“What is it?” River asked but before he could get up, he bent over as pain rolled over in his stomach.

“I don’t know, but it hurts.”

River nodded. “What’s happening to us?”

****

“It’s the baby!” Autumn cried, squeezing Mabon’s hand.

Shantaina got to her knees beside her and placed her hands over her stomach. “The baby is being hurt by some evil force.”

Another stab of pain made her lose consciousness. “Do something,” Stefan said as he held her head in his lap.

“I’ll try,” Shantaina said as she pulled a small drawstring pouch from her belt. She opened the string and dumped crystals on the ground beside her. She picked out an emerald, as green as Autumn’s eyes. “I might be able to save the baby as long as there is no bleeding.” She pulled up Autumn’s shirt, revealing the small swell of her stomach. She placed the emerald just below her belly button.

Hands held over the stone, Shantaina meditated. “Be at peace,” she whispered. “Be at peace.” She picked up another emerald and placed it on Autumn’s neck. She put her left hand over that stone while her other hand stayed over the other crystal. She pushed her own energy to her mid charka and let it flow over Autumn as she entered her mind. Autumn came to and tried to get up.

Autumn sat in a chair, rocking herself. “I remember now,” she told Shantaina.

“Remember what?” she asked, walking over to her.

“My dream. I was in a cave. Rowan and the others were infected, and the others were in the cave with me. There was no baby. I could have turned us away if I would have remembered.”

“It’s not your fault,” Shantaina told her. “Take my hand. We can get out of here. You need to be awake to help keep your baby.”

Autumn stood up and took her hand. “I will change the stars, but my way, not hers.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

The vision faded, and Autumn blinked open her eyes. The pain still burned but not as bad. “Thank you,” she told Shantaina.

The pain stopped all of the sudden, and the lights grew bright. “What was that?” Mabon asked beside Autumn.

They all looked around and stopped on Stefan. His eyes were closed, and he was saying something to himself. “Stefan,” Autumn said, and he looked down at her. His eyes looked like black orbs. “What were you doing?”

“Trying to help.” He helped her sit up. “Did it work?”

She nodded. “What were you trying to do?”

“We have a problem,” Anatha replied as she and Aarawn called from the entrance of the cave.

Mabon helped his sister stand up. She leaned into him as they all walked to the entrance.

“What now?” Mabon asked.

Anatha reached her hand to the entrance. It hit air and bounced away. “They have some magical field up.”

“I want to see,” Autumn said.

“No,” everyone said at the same time. No one wanted her so close to any form of magic.

Stefan walked over and put his hand out like Anatha. It went out. “Shantaina, can you do this too?”

She walked over and did the same, but her arm bounced back. “Go through, Stefan.”

He walked through and nothing happened. He stared back at his friends. “Well, damn,” he said.

“What’s on the rocks?” Mabon asked.

He looked at the small chalk marks. “There are small markings I’ve never seen all along the entrance. Here, let me see.” He smudged one of the markings.

Shantaina put her arm out the entrance, and it went through. “Come on, we need to get Autumn home.” She said, walking out of the cave. Anatha went next, and Mabon, then Autumn, and finally Aarawn.

“I am going to find out who did this, and I am going to kill them,” Aarawn said.

“I am going to do the same to the person trying to hurt my sister,” Mabon said, and Autumn smiled at him, laying her head on his shoulder.

“What if it’s the same person?” Anatha said.

“We all think alike sometimes,” Stefan said. “We need to leave.  This town is messing with my family, and it is really making me mad.”

Autumn reached out and squeezed his arm. “I’m ready.”

Chapter 15

Rowan sat up, the pain gone. He ran his hand through his hair. “Well that was freaky.”

“You okay?” River asked. “What the hell was that?”

“Yeah, you? I don’t know. So you were talking about Misty?”

“Yep,” River said, going back to his seat, avoiding Rowan. “I’m trying to figure out a way to ask her out.”

“Why?” The pain was now gone, replaced by confusion.

He shrugged. “I was thinking about staying.”

“What about home, me, and Autumn?”

He looked around. “This is home. My mom and brother are here.”

“What are you talking about?”

Play it cool
, River told himself.
I have to do this. I do want to go home
.
With Rowan and the others.
“Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be.”

“But
  
”

“I’m home!” he said angrily, getting up and disappearing.

“What was that about, hon?” Nancy asked as she walked in from the other room.

Rowan shrugged. “I don’t know.” What he felt now was confused and hurt. He had felt little heartaches from breakups before, but this felt ten times worse.

****

River peeked around the corner and saw Misty chatting with some other guy.
Do or die
, he told himself. He turned the corner, taking deep breaths.

He walked up to Misty and the other guy. “Am I interrupting anything?”

She looked at the other guy and whispered,
later
. He nodded quickly and walked away. She put on a flirtatious smile, showing her missing tooth. “I was wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner tonight?”

She grabbed onto his arm like a leech. “Well, River,” she said close to his face. Her breath stunk like the house last night. Again, he restrained himself from pulling away. “Are you asking me out on some sort of a date?”

He nodded, keeping his fake smile on his face. He had had so many years practicing it, and then not having to do it for the past almost seven years made it difficult. It was sort of hard to get back into character. “Yep.”

She released his arm, and he fought the sigh of relief he wanted to do so badly. She literally jumped and clapped in place. “OHMIGOD!” She cried out loudly. “That is so great.”

“Okay, well, I gotta go help my mom. See you tonight.” He turned around quickly and rolled his eyes. Even as a crazy person, she still had some of her superficial quality left. He went over to the store and walked past Rowan, who was working the counter. He found his mom in the back, looking over a piece of paper. She added something to it as he walked in. She noticed him and flipped it over.

“Mom.”

“Hi, honey,” she said. “Something wrong?”

He shook his head, not daring to look at the paper.
It’s the list,
his brain whispered. “No. But I invited Misty over for dinner. Is that okay?”

She took in a deep breath and let it out, unsteady. “Yes, that’s fine.” She stood up. “Better than fine. Great. What should we have for dinner?”

“Spaghetti.”

She gave him an unexpected look. “Spaghetti?”

He nodded. He thought maybe if he gave Rowan some clues ...  Okay, I’m going to go work now.”

****

“How’s Autumn?” Anatha asked.

“Shantaina says she’ll be fine.” Stefan said, walking down the stairs. A loud knock made them both stare at the door. “You want me to get it?”

She nodded her head. “Just in case.”

Stefan walked to the door and pulled it open, looking out. He chatted with someone, and then looked at her. “It’s for you. It’s Davies.” Just his name made her body clench with lust. Excitement fluttered through her. She gave herself a small shove and went to the door.

“Hi, Davies,” she said, startled by his bright smile and eyes.

“Hey, is everything okay? I heard some stuff around town. You guys all okay?”

“Yes. That’s nice of you to ask. What exactly did you hear?”

“I heard from the doctor that Autumn is sort of sick. And well,” his voice went to a whisper, “some of the elders are behind making her sick.”

“Do you know which one?”

He nodded. “Pavana.” He looked around. “But I didn’t tell you that.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“So anyway, after such storms, the place is all lit up and nice. Would you like to go for a walk?”

She looked behind her. “I could use some space.”

“Great.” At that moment she wanted to be alone with him, and her mind speculated what mischief they could get themselves into tonight. Her face heated as she saw he was talking, and she hadn’t heard a word.

Stefan closed the door behind them. “Who was that?” Mabon asked.

“Davies.”

“What did he want?”

“He knew who was behind hurting Autumn.”

“Pavana,” Shantaina said, walking down the stairs. “She and the doctor are having an affair. He must have told her about Autumn being pregnant, and she knew it was against the stars.”

“That is so wrong!” Mabon stopped. His eyes became a deep blue as he thought of that evil bitch trying to hurt his sister. “Wait, how did you know?”

“I’m not going to hide my power anymore. If it will help you guys.”

“I find it gross,” Autumn said at the top of the stairs. “She’s old enough to be his great grandmother.”

“You should be lying down,” Mabon said, racing up to get her.

“I’m fine. Has anyone seen my book?”

“This one?” Stefan asked, going over to the bookshelf and holding it up.

“You can hold it?” She asked, making her way down the stairs.

“I can, but no one else can.”

“Oh,” she said, taking it from him. “Ain’t that weird.”

“About Pavana,” Mabon said.

She gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But,” he said.

She turned her angry eyes on him, making him take a step back. “It’ll be dealt with. Now I’m going to my room.”

“Tea?” Shantaina asked.

“Yes, please,” she said, disappearing up the stairs.

****

The smell of spaghetti made Rowan’s stomach growl. He had totally forgotten lunch and suddenly thought about Autumn. She had always made sure they both ate. He smiled, looking out as the sun went down. He heaved a sigh, feeling his depressed mood tighten around him.
I will never leave without her again
, he thought as he pulled himself away from the window and made his way to dinner.

He paused outside the kitchen, looking at Misty and River talking as Nancy finished dinner.
What’s going on?
His mind asked him. He didn’t know. River didn’t eat spaghetti unless Rowan made it. Together, he and Autumn made killer food, which made River’s belly happy. He walked over to his seat and took it quietly. River’s brother was in the living room watching a cartoon on tape. They just let him be because of his ADD.  As long as he was happy, they were too.

“Are you all hungry?” Nancy asked, putting dinner on the table. “This was River’s idea.”

River looked at Rowan from the corner of his eye as he chatted with Misty. Rowan looked down at the food and then up at River.
Get the hint
, he thought.

What is he doing?
Rowan thought. He saw River peeking at him, but what was that supposed to mean? Some clue to something, but what? “It looks good,” he said, scooping some food onto his plate.

“That’s good, dear. Eat up. Can’t let you leave all scrawny,” she said, making a plate for River’s brother.

Something about what she just said gave him the willies. It reminded him of a fairytale:  the one about Hansel and Gretel, or maybe Little Red Riding Hood as well. “Why grandma, what great big teeth you have,” he found himself saying as he played with his pasta.

“The better to
eat
you with,” River replied. He put a lot of emphasis on eat. Misty giggled. Rowan looked at him again, but River was paying attention to Misty.
Eat?
Rowan thought. Did he find the zombies? If so is that why he’s acting this way?

“Eat up, dears,” Nancy said, coming back into the kitchen.

****

“He’s acting weird,” Rowan told Drake.

“Because he’s hanging out with Misty?”

He nodded. “He hasn’t talked to me and explained anything.”

Drake thought about it. “Okay. It is a little odd. Just a little, though, and he has to have a reason for it. I mean, you guys have been inseparable.”

“Well, he hasn’t told me the reason. I think we should get ready to leave. I’m getting very creepy vibes lately.”

“There’s nothing creepy going on,” Drake said. “I gotta go. I’m on baby duty tonight.”

“Whatever,” Rowan said, wandering around as he left Drake’s place behind him. Where he was going, he had no clue, but it was better than where he should be.

Misty and her high-pitched laugh, River and his. He stopped. Why hadn’t he noticed before? River and his fake smile. It had been so long since he had seen it. Something was going on, but what? If River had given him clues, he didn’t notice them. He did get one: eat. Or was it?

****

“Thanks for, you know,” Anatha said, her face flushed.

“Hopefully I didn’t bore you,” Davies replied.

She laughed. “No.” She walked up onto the porch. He followed closely behind her, reaching out to place his arm gently on her arm.

“Maybe we can do it tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” she replied and felt nervous. He leaned in and brushed his lips to hers. She wanted to kiss back, a real down and dirty kiss. But not out here on her grandmother’s porch. The neighbors already had enough to gossip about.

He gave her a charming smile that made her want to melt into his arms. He came in for another kiss, and she let him. She let his tongue play along hers. He pulled away, both breathless. “I’ll come by tomorrow or you can just stay over, and I’ll make you breakfast.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice. She went into the house and leaned against the door with her hands to her heart. She had a dreamy smile on her face. Autumn stood on the stairs, watching her, holding a tea cup.

“Don’t judge me,” Anatha said, her mood instantly darkening.

“Wouldn’t think of it,” Autumn said, taking a sip of her tea.

“I am just exploring my options.”

“Of course you are.”

“He inflames me! He brings a passion I have never felt before!” Uncontrollable anger bubbled inside her.

“Why are you getting so mad?”

Anatha thought about it. “I don’t know. I’m going to bed now.” She walked past Autumn on the stairs and slammed her bedroom door.

“I can’t wait to go home,” Autumn said as she slammed the stupid book on the ground.

“Open,” Adair mumbled, walking by. She frowned, pointing her finger at him. His eyes got large as he ran from the room.

****

“How are your drinks?” Misty asked.

“Great,” River said.

“Yeah, it’s good.” Rowan looked in his cup. It tasted a bit chalky. Sleepiness hit him. “You know, I’m tired. I think I’m going to go to bed.”

“You’re not going to finish your drink?” she asked, a little let down.

“No, that’s okay, but it was good.” He left them and went to the room. He had never felt so tired before. His eyes felt heavy. He fell into a deep sleep as soon as he hit the bed.

He awoke some time later. Everything around him was dark, and then he noticed he must have pulled the blanket over his head. He tried to move, but nothing happened.

“What the hell?” He started struggling.

“Rowan?” Linden asked nearby.

“Yeah, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see or move.”

“Neither can I,” Drake and Envy replied at the same time.

“Ivy Lee?” Linden said, calling out into the darkness.

“What?” She said sleepily, “Why is there something over my face?” There was the sound of movement. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” Envy asked. “Where is my baby?”

“River?” Rowan called out. Nothing. “River?”

“He’s not here,” Linden said.

“What’s going on?” Drake repeated.

“I told you something wasn’t right,” Rowan said, trying to move. “But does anyone ever listen to me? No.”

****

Autumn’s eyes flew open, and she was breathing hard. She had twisted herself in her blankets. She had had a bad dream of blackness. Rowan was calling for her, but she couldn’t find him in the blackness. Blackness. She sat up quickly.