Someone cleared their throat and then a dark shadow passed in front of us. Emersyn and I flinched – but it was only Haven. I exhaled and tried to slow my racing pulse. I glanced over his shoulder and found the rest of our Coven – and Warner and Lennox – had moved to the center of the clearing.

  Haven stopped in front of Tegan and looked down to our interlocked hands. “We’ve come full circle, haven’t we?”

  I nodded, and in my peripheral vision I saw they did, too.

  He smiled softly as he looked back and forth at the three of us. “I know what you’re feeling right now, and I understand. That night was frightening. But I want you to remember that although we may be in the same place, you’re not the same people. Back then, you were three southern girls who snuck of your houses for a little silly fun. Today, you’re three of the most powerful witches in the world.”

  My heart fluttered. Am I? Obviously Tegan and Emersyn were, but I had a hard time believing that of myself. And then I saw those gold bands on my brother’s arm. I’m the granddaughter of an archangel. I am strong.

  Haven looked to Emersyn, then to me. “And more importantly, you are not alone today. We’re here together. Whatever happens, we’ve got your back. Okay?”

  “Goddess, I love you,” Tegan whispered.

  “Can you not get her all mushy right now?” Emersyn chuckled. “But yes. Okay. I’m ready.”

  Haven grinned then turned to me. “Hope?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

  “Let’s do it, then.” He nodded then turned and gestured for us to follow him.

  I just prayed I wasn’t lying, to him or myself. Sure, it was eerie as hell to be here again. The memories of that night still gave me nightmares. But it was more than that. We were here to discover the truth of my parents’ legacy. To figure out what really happened, to know how they hurt so many people. I was nervous for them, for us – Haven and me. What would our Coven-mates think when they saw what our parents did? What would we think?

  And more importantly, how were we going to fix it?

  Tegan squeezed my hand. “Let’s roll.” She walked forward, tugging Emersyn and I along with her.

  We marched to the center of the clearing to where everyone else was waiting.

  As we joined, Uncle Tim narrowed his eyes at Tegan. “So, what is this trick Tegan did?”

  “Gotta say, Tim, I missed your skeptic ass,” Tegan said with a chuckle.

  Jackson shook his head. “She did a spell that let us see exactly what happened with them and Julian, how she died...”

  Uncle Tim gasped. He looked to Haven, then to me. “You saw how she died?”

  I closed my eyes and nodded. That holographic memory replayed in my mind for the millionth time. I don’t want to see that right now.

  “Y-yeah,” Haven’s voice cracked.

  “How…” Uncle Timothy whispered.

  Silence.

  Someone else was going to have to tell him because there was no way I’d be able to get the words out. It was hard enough just having that memory.

  Jackson cleared his throat. “Well…” and then he told him. All of it, in succinct, sharp detail. He told him about my mother putting me in a raft and sending me down the river. And of the spell she put on Haven right before she sent him running into the mountains alone in the middle of the night. Then he told about Julian showing up and fighting her, and how he threatened to hurt us before he hurt her. And most importantly, he told him about my mother’s final spell. The one where she sacrificed herself to save us.

  Silence.

  My heart was pounding in my chest, my pulse thundered through my veins.

  I wanted to look up to my Uncle and my brother, but I was afraid my emotions would get the best of me…and I needed to keep my head on straight. This moment was too important. I was so thankful for my soulmate, for saying what I couldn’t.

  Something warm touched my shoulder. I gasped and looked up.

  Uncle Timothy stood in front of my brother and me with sad eyes. His big bear paw of a hand squeezed my shoulder. He reached out gripped Haven’s. “I’m sorry you had to see that. If you don’t want to see this, you don’t have to watch.”

  Haven shuddered, but I was fairly sure he leaned into Uncle Tim. “Trust me, nothing can be as painful as what I watched by the river.”

  I nodded and swallowed through the hot lump in my throat. “He’s right. Plus, I have to watch. Mom needs me to, that’s why she spoke to me in that Ouija board at Dean’s.”

  Uncle Tim frowned. “Wait, Ouija board…that spirit was your mother?”

  “I didn’t know it, of course,” I whispered, unable to get my voice stronger. “Not until we went back the other day to use the board again…she spoke to Haven.”

  Haven groaned and scrubbed his face. “Stop. Please. I don’t have the strength to cry again right now. Let’s just focus on killing Joseph and healing the others, then we can talk and cry.”

  Uncle Timothy smiled and pulled Haven close to him until they stood side-by-side. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders and held on tight. He winked to me, then looked to Tegan. “Okay, problem child, do what you do.”

  Tegan crouched down and dug her nails into the dirt then scooped it up between her fingers. Just like last time, she closed her eyes and her lips moved silently. She threw the dirt up in the air then clapped her hands. The dirt turned into silvery glitter, like stars twinkling right next to us. Her body lit up, glowing bright. Golden magic pooled in her hands and the ground rumbled. She flicked her wrists out in front of her and the silvery dust shot across the clearing.

  Runes danced over the ground.

  Here we go again. I reached out and took Haven’s hand. Then I looked to my right and met Jackson’s gaze. There must’ve been something in my eyes that he saw, because he rushed over and took my free hand in both of his. He brought my hand up to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. The fear rushing through me settled ever so slightly.

  Electric energy slammed into my feet and raced up my legs. I gasped even though I knew it was coming. Warm and cold shot up my spine.

  “Seek the spells placed here before, Show me how they came to bore,” Tegan chanted. “From the start then some more, To the end of magic’s store.”

  The glittery silver dirt and runes joined together in front of her then shot across the clearing in every direction to the edge of the line of trees. The ground wobbled and then things popped up all around the clearing. The things moved and morphed until they took the shape of people. I gasped and blinked until the images were clear and sharp. The people, there had to be a hundred of them, formed circles in the clearing all around us. There were numerous rings of them, each circle bigger than the one before it.

  And then I saw them.

  My parents.

  They may have been holographic images, but I saw them clear as day.

  My heart twisted inside me. I remembered this. My mind flashed memories of seeing this first hand. At the very center of the clearing, my parents knelt on their knees, facing each other. My mother’s blonde hair was loose and swaying in the breeze. Her green eyes were big and bright, I saw her excitement. She thought this was going to work, it was clear on her face. My father, man, he really did look like Haven – and I saw a lot of myself in his face, too. He stared at my mother with adoration and confidence, like he never doubted her.

  They were at the center of all the rings.

  The circle wrapping around them first had only a handful of people. I spotted John, Ellis’s father…and Joseph.

  My stomach flipped.

  “Whoa, is that Ellis?” Braison yelled.

  We all jumped and looked toward him – and my jaw dropped. It was Ellis. Little toddler Ellis. It looked just like him, just smaller and healthier looking.

  “I remember this,” Haven whispered.

  I nodded. I do, too.

  “What’s he doing?” Easton asked.

  Little-Ellis was running around while yelling up at the sky and pointing wildly.

  I gasped and looked to my brother with wide eyes.

  “Helping us.” Haven groaned and pointed up into the sky.

  When I followed his point I wasn’t surprised by what I saw. I remembered like it was yesterday. Little-Haven was flying with his big golden angel wings – and he was carrying me.

  “I dropped my kite,” I heard myself say. “It was my favorite kite. We were chasing it.”

  Haven used to fly us around all the time. Mom and Dad hated it. They’d been afraid he would drop me. He never did. My eyes burned. This was the last time Haven and I did this – the flying around. I missed it. Anger bloomed inside of me. We’d been robbed of a childhood together and it was not okay. It wasn’t fair. My brother was my best friend back then and they took him away from me.

  Chanting erupted from the center of the clearing. I recognized my mother’s voice in an instant. I didn’t understand the words of her spell, but I knew what it sounded like.

  “RUTH!” A woman screamed from behind me. “STOP!”

  I spun around just as Rebecca, Ellis’s mother, came running through the clearing. Her eyes were locked on my parents as she yelled and pleaded for them to stop. But they didn’t, they didn’t even look up. Like hey never heard her at all. She was on the last line of the spell.

  Uncle Timothy sighed from the other side of Haven. “She almost made it.”

  “RUTH! STOP!” Rebecca pleaded. “TIMOTHY SAID—”

  A thick, black cloud shot out of Joseph’s hands and poured into the clearing. It spread through faster than a tsunami. People screamed. They jumped up and raced away from Joseph – and then magic exploded all around us. Green, blue, gold, and silver glitter rained down on the clearing then ripped through it like a tornado.

  And then there was screaming.

  The screaming was something out of a horror film.

  “What’s happening?” Emersyn yelled over the pained wailing.

  I shook my head. I don’t know. It was chaos and terror. People were trying to flee the scene, but that black smoke covered everything. It wrapped around people’s legs and slithered up their bodies. Everywhere it touched…their bodies began to melt. What were once legs were now turning to dark liquid.

  Willow gasped from behind me. “What is happening to them?!”

  Rebecca shrieked and dropped to her knees, she swatted at her legs and feet but they were disappearing before my eyes. “ELLIS!” Her voice was rough and high-pitched.

  My heart was pounding. My body was begging me to move, to do something to help them. But I couldn’t. It was over. The damage was done. This wasn’t real, it was just a memory.

  John leapt through the smoke to land right behind his young son. His whole body was turning black but that didn’t stop him from scooping Little-Ellis up into his arms. Little-Ellis was screaming and it was too much to bear. But I had to watch. This was my penance. He managed to get himself and Little-Ellis over to Rebecca but then he just dropped like a lead weight. They wrapped what was left of their arms around each other, squeezing Little-Ellis between them.

  I had to look away. Even though I knew they lived, it was too much.

  “Goddess,” Tegan whispered.

  The screaming escalated until it was piercing my ear drums.

  Oh, Goddess. No!

  But there was nothing I could do. Nothing any of us could do. These people were wailing and desperately trying to get free, but they were melting into puddles. My father was running all around, trying to help people. My mother was shouting spells in that angelic tongue. She spun in circles with a panicked look in her eyes. Neither of them were melting or in any kind of pain, even though the black smoke was all over them.

  Just then my mother threw runes onto the ground. People stopped melting and just turned to shadow. “This isn’t me! I didn’t do this!” My mom shouted.

  Little-Haven landed right in front of us with Little-me in his arms. We were perfectly fine, unscathed and well. But I remembered being terrified of this moment. I remembered this gave me nightmares, even after my memory was taken. Little-Haven grabbed my arm and dragged me toward our father. Dad scooped us up and rushed to Ruth’s side. The four of us were the only people there that hadn’t fallen victim.

  With Haven and I perched on each hip, Dad ran to mom. “RUTH!”

  “I have to contain this!”

  Dad glanced around with fear in his eyes. “What is it?”

  “Dark magic,” mom growled.

  “HOW?”

  She didn’t answer him. She dropped to her knees with that black smoke still swirled around her. She pulled a dagger out of her boot then slammed the blade into the ground. A golden bubble dome exploded around the clearing, trapping the black smoke inside. She screamed a spell, one I’d never heard before.

  Then she pulled another dagger from her boot, this one had a small blue-ish stone in the hilt — I gasped. It looked exactly like Haven’s dagger – except without the stone.

  “Is that…my dagger?” Haven made a weird strangled groan. “How?”

  Working faster than I could process, Mom somehow plucked the crystal out of the hilt…and it looked exactly like the crystal of Haven’s pendulum but bigger. It’s like George’s big brother.

  “Dude!” Easton yelled.

  “Is that the Spirit Stone?” Willow cried. “I don’t understand.”

  Mom held the stone in her hand and closed her eyes. “Bury thyself within this earth, until my dagger returns to rebirth.” And then she slammed the blueish crystal straight into the ground and it disappeared.

  Haven pulled out his own dagger and held it up…it was the exact same one. “H-how?”

  Uncle Timothy cleared his throat. “I may have made sure Kessler had her dagger and suggested he gave it to you.”

  I gasped.

  Haven groaned. “She had the Spirit Stone? You knew? How?”

  “No, that I did not know. I swear.”

  Mom jumped back up. She spun in circles, clutching her locket and mumbling spells.

  “Ruth?”

  She turned to Dad with tears in her eyes. “This is what my father saw.”

  Dad paled. “What do you mean?”

  Mom groaned and tugged on her hair. “You were there, you heard my father! He warned us we would not live to see our children grow older.”

  Dad shook his head. “You don’t know that this is it.”

  A tear slid down mom’s cheek. “I wish you were right, but I know in my heart you’re not. We won’t survive the night.”

  Dad turned sheet white. He pulled Haven and I into his chest. “And them?”

  “My brother will know what to do…he always does.” Mom shuddered. “Come, there are things we must set in motion before Julian comes for us.”

  Then the hologram faded.

  Uncle Timothy let out a strangled groan. Haven’s breathing hitched.

  And I bloody lost it.

  Tears exploded from my eyes. I sobbed. It was Joseph! “That bastard!”

  This whole time and it was really Joseph’s fault. I couldn’t believe it. He’d tricked everyone. That black smoke was dark magic and it had come from him. My throat was raw and burning, my ears rung. In the back of my mind, I knew I was screaming but I couldn’t stop it.

  It was Joseph.

  He did this.

  He did this to us.

  Uncle Timothy jumped in front of me and grabbed my shoulders. But I heard myself cursing Joseph and screaming. I felt Jackson squeeze my hand but I was lost to the pain of this moment. It was too much. I was too upset. Joseph needed to pay for this.

  And then Haven gripped my elbows and dragged me into his chest…and I lost my battle. I fell apart in my brother’s arms.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Bettina

  It was Joseph.

  He was the reason it went wrong, the reason my family was taken from me. The reason my parents died. The reason I was hidden away and had my appearance changed. The reason I didn’t see my brother for twelve years. The reason my poor Uncle lost everyone in one night.

  I will have my vengeance.

  Joseph will pay for this.

  But I needed to be strong in order to do that. So I pulled away from Haven and wiped at the mess of tears on my face. My eyes were throbbing and my throat burned. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I had to push through. I felt my brother’s eyes on me, but I couldn’t look at him or I’d fall apart even more. I took a deep, shaky breath and that familiar Christmassy scent filled my lungs. Jackson.

  I threw my hand out behind me and my fingers found the soft cotton of his navy sweater. I fisted the material and pulled him toward me…and then my face was buried in his chest. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tight. The slow, steady beat of his heart pounded through our now-complete soulmate glyph, and it actually helped calm mine down. I focused on his pulse and tried to match my breathing to his.

  “So, what’s the plan now?” Emersyn said softly.

  I turned and pressed my back to Jackson’s chest. Then looked to Haven.

  He nodded to me. “He’ll pay for what he’s done.”

  “How?” Cooper put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “How do we do that?”

  Jackson sighed. “Well, we know now that Joseph used dark magic to alter the spell.”

  Royce threw his hands up. “Yeah, but we don’t know what the dark magic spell was.”

  Tegan shrugged. “Not yet, but we can find out. There’s a dark magic spell I can do —”

  “NO!” Everyone screamed at the same time.

  Tegan arched one eyebrow. “Feels kinda like mutiny, but okay.”

  Haven shook his head. “Babe, just no. You know you can’t touch dark magic.”

  Tegan narrowed her eyes. “I’m in control of myself, y’all.”

  “T, you can’t.” Henley stepped forward. “That was different, that was demons and you were in control. We don’t know what Joseph is capable of or willing to do. We can’t risk you right now.”

 

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