The Gathering Darkness (38 page)

“Where’s Robyn?” I asked, fighting against the pain and the weakness that was quickly overtaking me.

“Safe, for now.” Maggie’s tone had changed to annoyance. “Her witch of a mother thinks she has saved her, but it is only temporary. Eventually, she will be punished for treason.”

So it was Robyn’s mother who had transported her away from here. I was glad for her and held on to the slim chance that she might be able to help us.

Maggie came closer, stopping directly in front of me, her eyes glued to my bloodied hand. From somewhere in a fold of her robe she produced a tiny glass vial. Instinctively, I curled my fingers into a tight fist and pressed it close to my side, but Megan grabbed my wrist and thrust it out in front of me.

“What are you going to do?” Marcus yelled at Maggie. She didn’t answer.

With one arm held tightly behind my back and the other held stiffly out in front of me, I jerked my body, trying to break free, hurting myself further as Megan’s grip tightened.

Maggie was close enough now that I could feel her cold breath on my face. Her icy fingers seized my wrist. My fist tightened. Blood oozed from between my closed fingers and ran up my arm inside Marcus’ shirt sleeve.

Maggie scrapped the glass vial against the inside of my wrist, collecting a drop of blood. The only thing keeping me from fainting was the coolness that radiated from her and the immense terror that prickled every cell in my body.

When her icy fingers let go of my wrist, the pain from her touch lingered. My hand fell limply to my side. I tried to keep conscious, but my head drooped slightly. A substantial crimson puddle formed on the wharf planks below me. Maggie drifted back to Sammy’s side.

Marcus seized the opportunity. Although I could see he was in pain, he twisted himself free of Evan’s grip and lunged for me, grabbing my bleeding hand with his.

In that moment, my world forever changed. Marcus’ energy shot through me, entirely. Every aspect of my two past lives infused into me instantly. I didn’t have to remember anything, I already knew. No longer was I merely, Brooke Alyson Day, I was Claire and Bryn, too. My entire life as a witch came flooding back to me, as well as my life as a fairy.

I was Bryn, flitting across treetops under a starry sky, dancing atop glistening ocean waves bathed in moonlight.

Effortlessly, I glided over the grasslands of the human territory, until I came to the spot in the meadow where the willow wept over the stream. I knew Kalan would be there waiting for me.

Day after glorious day, we frolicked innocently through the tall grasses mixed with wildflowers, under the golden sun. We bathed unclad in the sparkling stream.

Every moment together was more precious than the last. Kalan’s love seeped through every pore of my body and wrapped itself around my soul, enhancing my senses.

With every touch came a tingle.

With every breath came the fresh scent of Kalan’s skin, mixed with the fragrances of meadow clary and the glistening stream, all warmed to perfection under the sun.

Surely no two beings had ever found this level of love.

Now and then, mortals would visit our stream, but our magic allowed us to blend into our surroundings. None ever laid eyes on us.

For us magical beings, it was easy to tell when humans were in love—their auras shone brilliantly, for only us to see.

Whenever two mortals in love came to our stream, we celebrated our love with them by secretly gifting them with long lives of happiness and prosperity. Occasionally, they would hear the sounds of our giggles, like whispers on the wind, as we danced around them. Sometimes, they heard us splash, as we frolicked invisibly in the stream, but try as they might, they never found the source of the whispered sounds.

The vision shifted, and I was standing in front of the newly built Ravenwyck Inn. Jason was by my side. A dapper Christian was helping the beautiful Julia out of a horse-drawn carriage. The sight of Christian made my heart swell.

With Julia at his side, Christian turned to face Jason and me. Bashful, I blushed and looked down at the gravel. It wasn’t long ago that we’d met, and yet I loved him already. He took a step closer, making my heart skip a beat.

Jason and I greeted Julia and Christian and then went inside the Inn to attend our scheduled coven meeting.

Margaret shot Christian and me looks that made me uncomfortable. Did she know?

As I stood as part of the Coven of Seven, our robes brushing lightly together, my body was very much aware of Christian to my right. I felt a pull and longed to lean into him. I felt nothing from Jason to my left.

Margaret asked us to join hands. Once the circle was formed and we were linked together, we invoked the spirits. We each took turns calling upon the guardians of earth, water, wind, fire, and spirit, always saving darkness and light for last.

And as always, unbeknownst to the others, once darkness and light were called upon, a shimmer of energy passed from Christian into me and from me into Christian, binding our souls further.

Our linked hands, concealed within the bell sleeves of our robes, grew warm. I felt Christian squeeze my hand, gently. I squeezed back, and all the while we had to concentrate on casting the circle.

As I stared into Margaret’s young and beautiful face as she chanted, her image waivered.

Once again, I was on the wharf, struggling to break free of Megan’s incredibly strong grip. Marcus was on his knees now, both his arms secured behind his back. He lifted his head and stared at me with wide, frightened eyes.

Maggie was in front of us. She raised her arms, a spell rolling off her tongue. A bright blue light lit up the end of the wharf and Marcus’ boat materialized.

“Put them on the boat,” Maggie snapped the order.

The tide was high, so the jump from the wharf onto the boat wasn’t far. I couldn’t see Marcus behind me, but I heard the thump and some struggling, as he and Evan hit the deck of the boat together.

Before I had a chance to turn my head to see if Marcus was all right, Megan shoved me into the cabin. I stumbled to the floor. Too scared to move, I knelt on my hands and knees where I’d fallen and watched through the tangles of hair that had spilled over my face as Megan entered the cabin with me, closing the door behind her. She stood in front of the closed door, looking as if she’d just walked out of a beauty salon. Her silken waves, a stark contrast against the blackness of the robe she wore, cascaded down the front of her shoulders. Her French manicure and make-up looked as though they had all been executed professionally. For some reason, I was more terrified of her than any of the others, even Maggie.

When I realized she wasn’t coming after me, I cautiously raised myself up off the floor. In the dim light of dawn seeping through the porthole windows, I stared at Megan’s expressionless face. It was as if she really was a zombie.

I took two steps backwards and fell against the bench seat. A slight sting made me look down at my hand. A thin, pink line had replaced the open gash on my palm. It had healed itself. I smoothed my hand across Marcus’ shirt, wiping away some of the blood. As I stared at the scar, puddles formed on the rims of my eyes. We had been so close. I wondered if I would even see Marcus again before it was all over.

With my new knowledge, I now knew that any powers we would be gifted within this lifetime would come to us on the eve of the equinox—this evening. And that our powers would only last until midnight, but we had to be together for it to work. That seemed impossible now.

A light brush of air made me look up from my hand. I cringed against the back of the seat. Megan stood directly in front of me. Her pupils that had been flat and dull a moment ago were now black and depthless. They drew me all the way in until I felt weightless.

Megan captured my spirit and dangled it above a scene I did not want to see. Julia and Christian lay on a bed together, naked, their bodies intertwined, engaged in shameless activities. Sounds of passion floated up to me. I tried frantically to close my eyes, but in my spirit form, I had no eyes to close. I watched for hours as the two young lovers satisfied each other. Only when it was over, did Megan release my spirit. She smiled down on me wickedly.

She spoke to me as Julia. “Once Margaret is finished with Christian, he will be mine again.”

I gasped, appalled at the thought. My mind went through a dozen scenarios. Although weak, I found my voice. “What is Maggie going to do with him?”

She let out a quick, dark laugh and bent low enough so her bewitchingly beautiful face was level with mine and whispered seductively, “She wants his baby.”

If I could have pushed myself through the bow of the boat, I would have. “That’s impossible,” I whimpered. “She’s too old. It’s just sick.”

“Now that she has what she needs from you, she will be young and beautiful again very soon. Christian won’t be able to resist her.” It was clear that Megan was amused with the whole idea. “And then, when she’s finished with him, he will be mine forever. I have already fashioned a potion that will make him fall desperately in love with me. He won’t remember you even existed.”

With a manicured finger nail, she lightly traced the line of my cheek down to my chin, leaving behind the sensation of being scraped with the tip of a razor blade dipped in ice.

I shivered.

The door to the cabin burst open. Megan straightened.

“We’re here,” Sammy said flatly.

Megan grabbed my arm and forced me to my feet. Feeling heavy, I trudged out the door and into the early dawn. Marcus was nowhere in sight.

“Where is he?” I asked sharply.

“He’s not your concern anymore,” Sammy answered.

It was just Sammy, Megan and me now.

W
e were docked at a wharf, which looked as if it belonged to nothing. Beyond the aged wharf, a vast cemetery began at the shoreline and spread over a hill, looking long forgotten. The dismal scene held no houses or buildings.

Flanked on either side by the two witches, I walked through the pathless cemetery—a place I knew I’d walked many times before. A patchy mist covered the ground. How fitting. The seaside gravestones were so old; their etchings had eroded over time. As we neared the top of the hill, a low throaty rattle made me look up. Perched atop a cracked obelisk, sat the raven, eyeing us as we walked by.

On the other side of the hill the trees thickened; their twisted roots crawled along the uneven ground. This part of the graveyard was a sea of green. Protected by the shade, a dense covering of moss blanketed the gravestones, the ground, and the tree trunks.

Anxiety about my imminent death began to settle in. I began to wonder which tree I would be tied to and burned at, but I continued on in silence as if I were dead already.

Sammy and Megan stopped abruptly in front of a large, unembellished tomb. The structure was sealed shut with a stone slab. Wordless, Sammy raised an arm, and with a finger, traced the rune for ‘open’ into the air. With a grinding noise, the cement slab slid to the side. Sammy stepped into the darkness. My heart thrummed loudly against the wall of my chest. I took one last look around, convinced it would be the last time I saw the daylight. Beyond the trees, a large green building with many dormers came into view.

The Ravenwyck.

I knew exactly where I was now. The old graveyard I’d once walked through with Sammy on a dare when we were kids. The graveyard in which, as Claire, I had been burned to death for treason.

The legend had been wrong all those years. It wasn’t on Skull Island that two young lovers had been murdered. It was here. The murderers had just taken our remains to Skull Island and thrown them into the well. Until a few minutes ago, I’d forgotten this place was through a thicket of spruce trees, behind the Inn.

“Follow her,” Megan said.

I tore myself away from the dawn and stepped into the darkness with the feeling that I was walking into my own tomb. Megan followed closely behind. The concrete slab ground to a stop behind us, sealing us inside. Darkness was replaced by a discomforting eerie glow. The musty stench of old earth filled my nostrils as I descended gradually through a narrow passage.

Something happened to me as I walked. With no food for more than twenty-four hours and hardly any sleep, not to mention the blood loss, I should have been dead on my feet, but suddenly I felt more alive than ever. A new soul was awakening inside of me. My body felt lighter. Hope coursed through my veins, along with Marcus’ blood.

I knew the grimoire cover-to-cover now. I tried a simple spell of darkness. It didn’t work. The eerie glow continued to light our way.

We walked through a narrow tunnel in silence for a long time until we came to a wooden door. Again, Sammy traced a rune in the air. The rusty-hinged door creaked open. On the other side, narrow steps carved out of the earth ascended. I followed Sammy to the top, then down a hallway. I knew I was in a basement now—the bowels of the Ravenwyck to be more specific. Here, wall sconces illuminated our way.