Fate Changer (The Lost Witch Trilogy #3) (5 page)

“I love you Sarah. You and I are going to make it through this. I promise you,” he said, kissing her once more on the cheek.

Sarah nodded with a small smile. If just the thought of Zane could free her from the darkness of Teresa’s mind, she didn’t doubt he’d be able to free her from Charles’s plan to own her.

“Come on, let’s go get some breakfast,” she said, pulling him towards the door.

Zane smiled and followed her, but in her mind, she heard the words,
Um, was there anything you wanted to say back to me?

Sarah looked over her shoulder at Zane and blushed. “I adore you,” she said simply.

Zane grinned in the happy carefree way he used to as he sped up to hug her from behind. She sighed happily before walking into the kitchen followed closely by Zane. Everyone was there already. Charlie and her mom Teresa were eating a bowl of cereal and looking at a magazine together. It looked like they were arguing over who the cutest boys were. It was kind of cute and Charlie looked so happy. Her cold buzzy aura that usually surrounded her had changed to a softer, warmer feel.

Gretchen and Agnes were carrying more bowls and cereal boxes to the table where Lash was sitting, just staring at Charlie and Teresa curiously. Beatrice was standing by the sliding glass doors staring out the window as if she were trying to see the ocean. Sarah let go of Zane’s hand and walked over to stand by Beatrice.

“I’m so sorry Beatrice.”

Beatrice startled and blinked a few times before squeezing Sarah’s arm. “Me too Sarah. Me too. I can’t see the ocean anymore. How can I start the day without looking at the ocean?” she wondered softly, rubbing her hands up and down her soft blue cardigan.

Sarah smiled sadly out the window at the fence and the house that took up their view. “Zane or Lash can drive you to the beach later if you’d like.”

Beatrice breathed in deeply and shook her head. “No. It’s safer here. Gretchen and Agnes have filled me in. If Charles is out of town we can’t waste any time. We need to draw some new lines. The sooner the better.”

Sarah blinked in surprise and looked back over her shoulder at Zane. He was standing next to his mom as Agnes ran her hands through his blond streaked hair. He glanced at her curiously but she looked away.
Drawing lines
. That had been something her grandmother had done to keep Charles out of the whole town. Would they be able to do it again?

“Can we do the whole town?” Sarah asked hopefully.

Beatrice snorted with a quick smile and shook her head, her lightly graying brown hair swishing around her face.

“For that we’d need Francis back. No, we can’t do the whole town but we can do this house. We can probably do the school and the store. We’ll have to map it out. But we better do it now before it’s too late.”

Sarah nodded her head firmly. “We’ll do whatever we can to protect ourselves. But what about Mason, Lash’s father? He might still be around. For all we know, it was him who killed my grandmother. Is there any way to protect ourselves from him?” she wondered out loud.

Lash walked up at the mention of his father’s name. “No Sarah. He’s too strong. Magical lines would be nothing to him. But you have me and Zane. The two of us together can protect everyone from him if it comes down to it,” he said, standing close to her.

Sarah nodded, but felt a cold chill. The two times she’d been near Mason had been terrifying and if he had been the one to kill her grandmother, than he had an excess of witches blood in his system. There would be no defense against him.

Zane walked over to join their group and frowned, obviously having read her mind. “Beatrice, what do you think? Do you think it was Charles who killed Francis or was it Mason?”

Beatrice closed her eyes in pain but nodded her head. “There’s no way Charles could have broken through Francis’s lines. But even if he had found a way, from what I know of Charles and Mason it had to be Mason. First of all, Charles was never one to get his hands dirty. His murders are always bloodless killings. He doesn’t like leaving evidence. Agnes told me the police called this morning and they have plenty of forensic evidence. She has a bite mark on her throat. It had to have been Mason.”

Agnes made a
tsking
sound and motioned for everyone to sit down at the table. “If we’re going to talk about this, come away from the window. We’ll multi-task and talk and eat.”

Gretchen waited until everyone had found a seat and had poured a bowl of cereal before talking. “Okay everyone, Beatrice thinks Mason is the one who killed Francis. Under Charles’s orders of course, but nonetheless, Mason was the weapon used. So we have a blood addict with enough witch’s blood in his system to take out the entire town and half the National Guard. We most likely have one day until Charles returns for the memorial. So let’s talk strategy. Any ideas?”

Sarah looked at her in surprise. “Well, I think Beatrice’s idea to put protective lines around the house and certain parts of the town is a good start. Maybe we should talk later and get that done right now?”

Zane grinned at Beatrice. “Perfect! Great idea Beatrice.”

Agnes frowned and shook her head. “There’s only one problem. How?”

Sarah and Zane frowned and looked at Beatrice questioningly. Beatrice shrugged. “I wish I could tell you. I’ve been your grandmother’s friend for over two decades, but she never wrote down the instructions for me. I figured Agnes would know. The older generation of witches knew a lot about protection. The knowledge is always passed down from generation to generation. You get burned out enough times, you learn to protect what’s yours.”

Agnes shook her head and looked at Gretchen. “I have no idea Beatrice. I’m a different kind of witch than Francis was. I come from a long line of witches who were treasured and sought after for our healing skills. We were always safe.”

Gretchen glanced at Zane. “I don’t think we’re so very different. Look how powerful Zane is. But my mom’s right. We don’t know how.”

Everyone in the room turned and looked at Sarah. Sarah raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Don’t look at me. I’ve just barely made the switch from believing I have psychokinesis to accepting that I’m a witch.”

Lash shook his head. “That’s not why everyone’s looking at you Sarah. You operate a little differently. You go on instinct and pure power. Do you think you and Zane could piggy back your power and try and do a protective line?”

Zane grabbed her hand under the table and spoke into her mind.
We could try. I don’t think we have a choice. It’s that or we’ll be completely defenseless when Charles comes back.

Sarah nodded. “Fine, we’ll try, but I don’t even know the first thing about it. Would, um . . . would my father know how to do something like that?” she asked, looking back and forth between Gretchen’s and Agnes’s faces. Agnes’s face shut down immediately into harsh lines. Nope, she wouldn’t ask. Gretchen, however, looked open to the idea.

“Absolutely not. Don’t go anywhere near him Sarah. You have to be smarter than that. From what Agnes has told me, Race is now just as much a danger to you as Charles is,” Beatrice said firmly.

Sarah’s mouth fell open in surprise at the vehemence. “
Okaaay
, it was just a thought.”

Gretchen raised her hand to get everyone’s attention. “I could ask. He wouldn’t hurt me and I might be able to talk some sense into him at the same time.”

Zane frowned darkly. “Mom
, no
.”

Gretchen looked around the room and every face, except for Teresa’s and Sarah’s was disapproving. “Fine, I won’t. But what do we do then?”

Beatrice cleared her throat politely. “I was there when Francis did the lines right after Charles killed everyone here eighteen years ago. She had her eyes closed and so I held her hand as we walked around the whole town. It took us a week, but she was determined that no one else she loved would be harmed by Charles.”

Sarah sat up excitedly. “So what did she say? What did she do? If you were there then you can walk us through it.”

Beatrice shook her head impatiently. “She was completely silent the whole time. She could look out the window and throw up the ocean. She doesn’t need to mutter spells or boil frog entrails. That’s not how it works. It’s all in your mind and your power. That’s all I can tell you.”

Sarah felt her shoulders slump in defeat and sighed miserably, so it was strange that Agnes and Gretchen and Zane should be grinning at her so happily. “
What
?”

“You can do this Sarah. Lash is right. You and Zane together could use your power to draw lines. You called up the ocean. You told me you did. If you can do that and fly and dig tunnels in the ground, there’s no reason you can’t do this. So eat up. You’ve gotta get started,” Gretchen said, standing up and wiping her hands together.

Sarah groaned. “What happened to me not using up all my energy, huh?”

Gretchen laughed. “This is exactly what you need your energy for, silly. Here, have some jelly on your toast. You’re going to need the calories.”

Sarah and Zane finished breakfast while Beatrice, Gretchen and Agnes talked excitedly in the kitchen. Lash knew he’d be in the way so he agreed to drive Charlie and Teresa to the mall in town to go shopping. It was a good excuse to get Teresa out of the way. She had listened very carefully to the conversation and had become agitated by the talk about witches and power and lines. Lash and Charlie were going to try and bring her up to speed and also check around town for info on Teresa’s parents and the boy named Bryce she had been so in love with.

Sarah took a shower after breakfast and took her time doing her hair and make-up. She was putting it off and she knew it. She just didn’t want to disappoint everyone when they realized she had no idea what she was doing and that everyone was still defenseless against Charles.

Zane tapped on the bathroom door. “Did you fall in?”

Sarah glared at the mirror but knew she’d have to walk out the door sooner or later. She studied her face in the mirror and tried to smile. Her long wavy red hair looked smooth and glossy and her light makeup made it look as if she was going on a date instead of getting ready to form magical lines of protection against a sociopathic witch who was obsessed with her. But her clear green eyes told a different story. If anyone cared to look close enough, they’d see she was terrified.

She opened the door and walked out and straight into Zane’s arms. He held her gently against his hard chest and rested his chin on top of her hair. All of her worry and stress immediately faded as his warmth took over.

“Stop stressing and let’s just get it done. We’ll do the lines and then go out for pizza afterwards okay? Just you and me. It’ll be a date. A romantic one.”

Sarah looked up and laughed. “Yeah, why not. We might as well get in all the dates we can before disaster strikes.”

Zane sighed but didn’t say anything, just grabbed her hand and led her out of the house and into the front yard where Agnes, Gretchen and Beatrice were standing, waiting for them.

“Start here Sarah. Walk around the house at least three times, because this is where we need to be the safest while we sleep at night. Then, after you’re done with the house, I want you and Zane to walk around the town. Walk around the high school, the neighborhood, the grocery store. Try and walk in as big a circle as you can. It’ll be at least a five mile radius, so this will take a couple hours. And don’t rush it. Make sure you do it right. I just wish you could walk around Francis’s house and the beach. I hate the idea of that man living in her home, touching her things,” Beatrice said with so much venom that everyone looked at her in surprise.

Sarah nodded her head in understanding but winced at the pressure she was being put under. Everyone’s safety was dependent on her.
No problem
.

Zane took her hand as if they were going for a walk. He looked down at her and winked. “Okay Beautiful, I’m going to channel as much of my energy as I can into you. If I start to hurt you, let me know. Okay?”

Sarah nodded and closed her eyes. Mostly to block out the hopeful faces of Agnes, Gretchen and Beatrice. Within seconds, she could feel Zane sending his energy into her through the contact of their hands. It was more than just a warm breeze though, it was like a hot electrical current. She gasped at the impact and realized on a basic cellular level what a powerful witch Zane truly was. If Charles even had a clue, Zane would be his next target. She shuddered at the thought and then shuddered again because of the energy. If she didn’t find an outlet soon, she was going to be fried.

She kept her eyes closed, depending on Zane to guide her and began walking quickly around the house. In her mind she envisioned a bubble like the one she had been trapped in, forming around the house. She felt the energy fighting to get out, but nothing happened. She was about to go into power overload and heard one of the front windows crack. It just wasn’t working.

Sarah stopped walking and looked at Zane, perplexed. “
Crap,
” she muttered and let go of Zane’s hand before her nerve endings started to sizzle from all the power he was giving her. She kicked at a few stray leaves in frustration. “Why isn’t this working?” she demanded, looking at Zane who was staring back at her, his eyes squinting in the sun.

Zane moved behind her and massaged her tense shoulders before pulling her into a hug. He swarmed her senses with calm before talking. “Whatever you were visualizing wasn’t working. I could feel what you were trying to do because I was with you. The bubble thing is a no go. What else can we visualize?”

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose and wished that she’d actually been trained to use all this power that was hers. She felt like a fifteen year old kid in Driver’s Ed behind the wheel of a Lamborghini and she barely knew how to turn the key.

“
Fine
. No bubbles. That’s Charles’s thing anyways. Umm, what about fire or energy? Like a wall or something? Impenetrable, strong, maybe even metallic?” she said, looking up to see Zane grinning at her.

“We’ll work together at what we both do best. I’ll visualize a metallic shield and you can form a wall of energy. We’ll both play to our strengths. Let’s try it again. Ready?”