Casted (Casted series) (3 page)

“You three think you’re safe here?” he asked, amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes.

Rainy marched over to the couch to stand protectively in front of me.

“What happened?” she asked.

“She’s been found,” the man answered

“Found by whom?” Jessa asked as she shook the mud off her hand.

“Jade, if you would go get your things,” he said eyeing me from head to toe. “You might want to change out of those clothes while you’re at it.”

I didn’t want to do as he said. I wanted to question him about what was happening.

“It’s okay Jade, we’ll wait until you get back to talk,” Rainy said.

“I’ll be right back,” I told her as I limped my way to my bedroom at the back of the house.

I didn’t want to leave them any longer than necessary but making quick work of getting out of my wet clothes was causing more trouble than the damn spell that had held me captive. With a few choice curse words, I finally managed to get out of the binding material. Mud had dried in my hair and made it stick up and away from my head. I needed a shower. With clean clothes in hand, I ducked into the bathroom across the hall.

I set my clothes on the bathroom counter and reached behind the shower curtain, twisting the handle. Icy cold water spit out onto my hand, causing me to jerk it back and shiver.

My face felt tight and itchy so I grabbed a washcloth and stepped in front of the mirror over the sink. I wiped the grime from my face, mindful of the small cut on my cheek.

My mind raced around what had just happened. Everything had been going so well, up until today. I knew something was coming last night. I should have paid attention to the obvious warning of my subconscious. Being angry with myself wasn’t going to fix the situation I now found myself in. And who the hell was the guy who had swooped in to save me? Why would he think I would just pack up and leave with him? I shook my head in frustration as the air around me warmed up, letting me know that I wouldn’t freeze my ass off in the shower. I tossed the dirty washcloth in the hamper and ducked under the lukewarm spray.

I felt a little better after my shower, even though my ankle was still throbbing slightly. As I was getting dressed, I could hear the deep rumble of male voices. I pulled my hair up in a sloppy pony tail and hurried back to the living room.

Jessa sat in the chair closest to the fire, chewing on her thumbnail in thought. Rainy nervously paced the living room while two male figures sat quietly talking on the couch. I cleared my throat to get their attention. All at once, four sets of eyes came to rest on me.

The second male voice belonged to a younger man. He was very handsome in a broody sort of way, with sweeping dark brown hair that hung in front of his gold flecked, brown eyes. His thick build and braced stance told me he was not one to run away from a fight.

“Ready?” the man asked me.

“Who are you?” I asked again.

“Someone you can trust,” he answered. “We need to leave now. My sources tell me the man I took down alerted the Triad. They are on the move.”

My gaze darted back to the younger man.

The older man gestured at him. “Ah, this is my son, Dagger Ashby. Dagger, this is Jade Kinsely.”

I looked over the pair again, noticing the similarities in their features.

Dagger dipped his head, “Hello.”

“What’s the Triad, and how do you know who I am?” I asked, returning my attention to the older man. I wasn’t sure who this group was and why we should be afraid.

“The Triad is a coven of sorts. They hunt and destroy witches and wizards alike, for power. They leave a trail of blood behind them as they go,” the older man said. “To answer your second question, I knew your parents. I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

“Okay, that’s all well and good, but what do they want with me?”

“I’m not sure why they continue to search for you. I only know that you are not safe on your own anymore. I’m here to help you.”

“And why should I believe you? You, who can’t or won’t even tell me your name.” I wanted more then just bits and pieces of information from this man. But if he was telling us the truth, then we only had mere minutes to get out of here and begin again.

A loud commotion came from outside the cottage. Rainy and Jessa jumped up to stand in front of me. The ground heaved. Jessa and Rainy looped their arms through mine, linking us together.

Dagger walked over to the door, cracked it open and peered out. “We need to leave now,” he said, slipping outside.

The older man held his hand out to me. “My name is Matheson Ashby. Please take my hand. We must leave.” He looked deep into my eyes, imploring me to trust him. I hesitated briefly.

What did I really know about him? Nothing, I knew nothing about him. Should I put my fate in his hands, no matter how dire the situation seemed right now? What if going with him was worse than staying here and fighting?

A shout sounded from outside. Jessa ran for the door. Rainy yelled for her to come back, but it was no use. Jessa had dashed headlong to the front yard and began weaving spells in the air. Rainy turned to me. “Stay here,” she shouted as she shot out the door after Jessa.

I looked once more at the hand stretched out to mine. Matheson’s hand held firm as a lifeline out of this attack. I would not leave Jessa and Rainy behind and run. With my decision made I brushed past him and headed to the kitchen. He followed close behind.

“We must go. It is foolishness to stay,” he said as he followed me. We ducked behind the bar in the kitchen, as glass shattered from the huge picture window.

“If you leave with me, you’ll live. If you stay, you will surely die,” he said as he pulled me down to avoid a blast of magic that crumbled the ceiling in. Rubble rained down, smashing the table in two with a loud crack. Glasses and plates shattered becoming shards of death, caught in a whiplash of air. It was no safer in here than outside.

I reached out and snatched open a cabinet drawer. Silverware scattered across the gouged wood planked floor. Once butter smooth and worn with time, it was now pockmarked and charred in spots. I held the drawer in front of me as a shield so I could get across the kitchen to the butchers block. It was a flimsy shield, but it protected my head from anything sailing through the air.

Blindly, I reached behind me, knocking over the block holding the knives. I grabbed the closest handle pulling it against me.

Matheson continued following me on hands and knees as I made my way down the small hallway to the back of the house. A tiny room sat along the back wall. We never used it except for storage so there were boxes stacked haphazardly. I picked my way through to the door.

Blocked.

Two large boxes had fallen off the high shelves and were now in my way. Matheson grabbed my arm before I could start lifting the first box away.

“You can not go out there!” he yelled as he shook my body to punctuate his disapproval.

“Watch me.” I shoved him away. The door pulled hard towards me, only giving an inch or so, as I put everything I had into getting outside to help my friends. They were the only family I had left and I wasn’t going to sit back and let them die to protect me. Matheson pulled himself free of the box I’d shoved him into. He caught my sleeve before I could slide out through the small opening I’d made.

“If you are so hell-bent on dying, let me at least go first,” he said, pulling me out of the small opening and tossing me backwards into the box he’d just pulled himself from. With a wave of his hand, the clutter barring the door was gone. He opened it a crack to peer out. “This won’t do at all,” he said as he turned back to look at me before he slipped outside. The door closed and the clutter he’d removed materialized back into place.

“Damn you Matheson!” I shouted in frustration.

Outside, the sky flashed with spells and counter spells. The room lit up with every wave of energy. It was like watching an amplified lightning storm bent on destruction.

Matheson might have blocked this path, but there was one more at the back of the house,
I thought.

I made my way to the back of the house, climbing over splintered furniture and pieces of the ceiling that had fallen. My hand slipped off the arm of an overturned chair into a broken lamp. The glass slid across my palm and I cried out in pain. The cut was deep and bleeding profusely. I hugged my hand to me, curling it up to keep the blood from escaping faster.

Slower than before, I picked my way across the rest of the unrecognizable living room to the back door. I could hear the shouts and screams from outside. I couldn’t tell who was screaming, but in my heart I feared the worst. The knife I’d grabbed was still nestled between my belt and my pants. At least I still had it after all the climbing and sliding I’d done to get to the back of the house.

My heart jack hammered in my chest as I turned the handle and pulled the door open. I could see Jessa. Her back was to me as she used a huge bolder for protection. She was penned in by two men wearing bandanas over the bottom of their faces. She wasn’t giving up, but she wasn’t getting anywhere either.

I couldn’t see Rainy from here, but there was no way I was going to push my way back through the living room to look out the front window. I picked my way over the uneven ground like a drunken bullfrog, hopping between rocks sticking up from the ground.

My hand throbbed as I leaned against the cold, slick surface of the rock in front of me. Blood ran down the face of it, soaking into the grooves and dips like a macabre painting. I shifted around to the other side of the boulder to peek around the corner of the house.

Fallen trees and huge unearthed rocks by the shoreline dotted the lawn like a twisted game of lawn darts. Dirt had been plowed up and hilled by the force of their landing. I still couldn’t see Rainy. And where the hell was that jackass, Matheson?

The ground trembled, knocking me from my hiding spot and slamming me into the bucking earth. One of the men noticed my arrival and the fighting immediately intensified. Jessa’s magic burst from her so quickly that one spell blended into the next. One of the men cried out as her spell found him and sent him sprawling to the ground, where he lay still. The second man took the opportunity to slip around her and raised his hands, summoning a spell intended to take out Jessa.

I shot up from the ground, my bloody hand outstretched as if I could save her.

“NO!” I screamed as I ran at him.

The spell shooting from his hand wavered, as if it were blocked. I shouted again as I sliced my hand across the air as though I could push her attacker away.

The spell broke. Only a thin smoke trail remained where it been. A heartbeat later, it seemed to roll into itself and shot back at the man. Flames burst out over his clothing and he screamed in pain. Orange fingers wound around him, wrapping him so tight he couldn’t break free. I watched as his body flared into nothing more than fine ash that floated to the ground.

Jessa ran from her hiding spot and slammed her body into mine, sending us sprawling. Air rushed from my lungs and I grappled desperately to get it back.

“Stupid…are you out of your…shit! Stay down!” Jessa’s body shielded mine as another spell rushed at us. She blasted back with a counter spell and grabbed me, half dragging me behind a car.

“Whose car is this?” I asked her as I panted and winced.

“She asks whose car this is, yet doesn’t bother wondering who’s trying to kill her. She’s more worried about the damn car.” Jessa rolled her eyes at me, shoving me down again as a shot of blue streaked above my head, slamming into a man hiding behind a tree. His large form wavered before falling face first to the ground.

Matheson appeared around the corner. He was bleeding from his hairline. Soot coated part of his face. He panted his words. “We can’t hold them much longer. We need to get out of here before they send more Enforcers. That counter spell you just pulled for her was powerful,” he said, pointing at Jessa, but looking at me.

“Don’t look at me, I can’t stop spells!” I yelled.

Matheson grunted in response.

“We have to find Rainy,” Jessa told him. They both raised their hands sending a double spell at an approaching attacker. His body went sailing over the rocky outcropping of the cliff to land in the chilly water below.

“Your friend Rainy is on the other side of the copse of trees, just there,” he said, lifting his finger to point.

Rainy was a blur of golden hair as she darted in between trees.

“Let’s go,” Jessa said as she pulled me to a half-upright position. “Stay between us and keep up.”

She didn’t give me a chance to get my feet under me. I staggered along behind her, trying my hardest not to fall in one of the many holes set in my path.

Matheson swore as a spell slammed us to the ground and tossed me away from them. I rolled and bumped across the ground right into the feet of a man hiding behind an outcropping of rocks. He jumped in surprise and then leered at me before he reached down to pull me against him. His fingers bit into my skin, bruising my flesh. I tried pulling myself free from his grip. He pulled me further into the trees. I watched as Jessa and Matheson scrambled to find me.

I fought harder, twisting and pulling, but he wouldn’t let me go. His hand came around and slapped me. The force behind the blow took my feet out from under me as he held tight to my arm. The sickening snap of bones breaking made my stomach roll. The contents of my stomach rushed up my throat.

I was tossed to the side to vomit up the pain. He waited for my body to stop lurching and then snatched me up to my feet by the arm he’d just broken. A scream burst from my mouth, briefly blocking out the sound of fighting going on around us. My vision blurred and spots formed in front of my eyes. I began slipping into unconsciousness.

His fingers loosened on my arm and I slid to the ground once more. Sickened by pain, I turned my face away from him. If I was to die, I no longer wanted to see what was hunting me. I wanted the last thing I saw to be the freedom I’d had for these last few years - the forest in front of me, untouched by the blasting spells. That was the calm my mind sought.