Magick (The Unwanted Series Book 1) (13 page)

“Anytime, Willow. I think you know, I’m here anytime you need me.”

Her eyes are like mine, dark blue. Her chin and pert nose, just like mine. She opens the door, and the office hallway morphs into my bedroom. I rub my eyes and feel the wetness of my tears. Evan had said this is how he and my mother would communicate sometimes. I don’t know why, but having access to her right now brings me comfort. Whether it’s in my head or real, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t even matter if it’s really Dr. Bauche or Mom. I cup my face and smile through my tears. Before I know it, I’m laughing.

The bump on my door lets me know Duke is outside, waiting on me. I go to the door and pet him on the head, then follow him down the back stairs to the kitchen. I find Cross, Emily, Tullen and Rhydian at the table.

“Ready?” I ask.

The girl throws her fist to the sky,

“My destiny is my own!”

Fate is satisfied, for now…

Chapter Seventeen

T
he potion that we’ve made is finished and ready. Quinn and Tullen are moving the foyer table into the formal living room. I have chalk in my hand, ready to draw the pentagram required to transport us to wherever my father is being held. The reason we can’t transport without this potion is that we don’t know where we are going. This potion is to bring us close to my father, through our family bond.

“Start here in the north, where the stairs are,” Rhydian points.

I nod and draw the pentagram star, and then complete the circle. It feels strange to draw it, and yet somehow familiar. I’m not much of an artist, but I feel I do a decent job, considering I have a full house watching my every move.

“Okay, just so we all understand how this is going down, the plan is that Rhydian, Emily and Willow will transport first. They’ll scope out the area and, if able, Rhydian and Emily will return to us. If they can’t both come, just Emily will return so that Rhydian can help protect Willow.” Cross, Tullen and Quinn nod their heads in agreement.

Emily rolls her eyes. “Whatever, you know I’m the best regarding protection. Your little hang-up that Willow needs your protection is cute, though.”

I love that confidence she has in me. I can’t help but smile. The fact is, my magick is stronger, and I feel in control. Not everyone has real magick like mine in the Wiccan community. Plus, I think I scared the shit out of most of them at the Hallowed Hall. If whoever took my father and my best friend didn’t see that display, hopefully they’ve heard about it by now.

“Let’s go.”

Rhydian is all business, pure focus. I envy him. I’m a mixture of nerves, fear and anger. Rhydian pours the potion into the bowl in the center of the pentagram. He, Emily and I stand in the center of the circle. He nods to me, and I prick my finger and squeeze a drop of blood into the potion and add the last ingredient — my father’s hair — then quickly grasp Rhydian and Emily’s hands. Transportation is becoming easier for me. However, this time I feel the pull of various directions, and it’s rocky, not smooth. The force of wind is pushing us. It smells like a storm, and I get thrown backward. I feel my hand slipping from Emily’s, and then in an instant we all fall into darkness onto a hard dirt floor.

I land on Emily, and feel Rhydian touch my ankle. We all made it.

In a whisper, Emily asks, “Where the hell are we? I can barely see anything.”

“In some type of dungeon,” Rhydian answers. He’s already suited up in his sleek armor.

“Can you give us some of that glow magick, Wills?” Emily asks.

I light up my hand in a dull blue glow, and the designs on my arm appear and start to flow. We’re in some type of cell, but the door where the bars should be is open. It’s moist and smells of rust and mold. Outside the cell is a tunnel. It’s old, with stone and dirt floors. There are lanterns spaced out that give some light down to the left, but on the right the spacing is further apart, and everything is dark.

“Which way do we go?” I ask.

“We need to split up,” Rhydian replies.

I had a feeling he was going to say that. I don’t like that idea, but it’s the only way. We take a step out of the cell, and the bars slam shut. The tunnel lights up entirely, and an alarm sounds.

“Shit!” yells Rhydian.

“Bring it!” yells Emily.

I have a feeling we need to go left, and start running that way. “Come on, guys. This way!”

When I round the corner, I skid to a stop, but not because of the gruesome torture tools in the middle of the room. Instead my eyes are drawn to the sign over the door with stairs leading out of the dungeon.

It reads “MacKinnon Manor.”

“No,” I whisper in shock.

“No time!” Rhydian yells above the alarm.

“Aiden! Lucy! Aiden! Lucy!” Rhydian and Emily yell in chorus.

Lucy yells back, and I can breathe again. We take the stairs out of the dungeon to where her voice is coming from, on the floor above. It’s a newer part of the building, with tiled floors and proper walls. The recessed lights are lit by bulbs, not fire. There are doors with square peek-a-boo windows and an opening at the bottom for trays.

The alarm stops blaring. Rhydian runs down and knocks on all the doors, saying my father’s name. I yell for Lucy to get back, then use my magick to blast the door.

Lucy uncovers her face and tears are streaming down her cheeks.

“I can’t walk,” she says, pointing to a cast that goes all the way up to her thigh.

“I’ve got her.” Emily swoops in and picks Lucy up like she’s a doll. Lucy pushes her face against Emily’s shoulder and says “thank you” over and over again.

Rhydian yells, “He’s here, he’s here!” He kicks down the door the old fashioned way. There’s movement around us, outside the building.

“I’ve got Lucy, and I’m taking her back now,” Emily says. She tries to transport, but nothing happens. “It must have a protection spell against transporting.”

“Go back to the cell,” I say, and Emily takes off with Lucy, running back in the direction we came from. Emily is fast, and even Lucy’s extra weight from the cast doesn’t slow her down.

I’m at the end of the hall where Rhydian has found my father. He’s lying on a cot at the back of a small, square jail cell of a room. He turns slowly so we can assess his injuries, and my magick flares seeing the bruises on his face. His right hand is discolored, swollen and puffy; there are broken bones. He coughs up blood before speaking.

“My smart girl.” He reaches with his good hand to touch my face.

“We’ve got to go. Is there another way out of here? We can’t transport. Something is blocking us.”

He sits up slowly and cringes. “Maybe back through the older part. There should be a way outside to the grounds.”

Rhydian is all business, helping my father up and walking him out to the hall. The steps above us are louder now.

We start down the stairs when I hear Sabine’s voice calling, “Wait, wait!”

I have no interest in speaking to her, after what she’s done. I thrust my hand upward to break the ceiling, and it crumbles down in grand fashion, complete with smoke and rock to block her path. I don’t bother to stick around, leaping down the stairs behind Rhydian and my father.

It’s getting darker in the old tunnel, and I use my hand to light the way. At first it looks like we’re heading for a dead end, but when we get there, the tunnel turns and starts to slope upward. The outside light is coming in through slats of wood in the door ahead. We start moving quicker, and my father moans as he hangs onto Rhydian.

I throw a light ball at the door, busting it apart, and run outside. We’re at the edge of a forest, and when I turn there’s the castle: MacKinnon Manor.

“Rhy! Wills!” Cross yells, running down the tunnel toward us with Quinn and Tullen. We’re all outside now, and it’s damp and foggy.

“We transported as soon as Emily let us. She had to get Lucy home.” Cross pats me on the back. “I’m so sorry, Wills. To think Sabine would do something like this to your family…” His face says it all.

My father struggles, and Rhydian sets him down. He coughs and says, “I’m not sure it was her… not completely, anyway.” He blinks several times. “It’s all off. Something doesn’t make sense. She was never there… torturing… but the High Coven is involved.”

I cringe at the word torture. Looking over my father, I can’t help but think of what I saw in that old dungeon room. Lucy in a cast. My father spitting up blood. I gnash my teeth together and shake my head.

“Where’s the guard of her estate?” Quinn asks.

In the same breath, we look up to see Sabine and a team of five walking across the acreage toward us. Her hair is flowing, red like fire, and there’s a look of concern in her eyes.

“It’s a trick,” I say.

Rhydian puts a hand out in front of me, to keep me from walking over to them. “She’s part of the High Coven,” he reasons. “Wait a minute and let’s see what she says.”

I can’t believe his calm demeanor, but I take the advice. I take a deep, even breath, and it calms me — sort of. Someone needs to answer for taking my father and Lucy, not to mention the horrible condition in which we found them. My inner rage is building, and I’m ready to go crazy, but I decide to put it on tap until I need it.

Chapter Eighteen

T
he grounds at McKinnon Manor are immaculate. The lush green grass frames several acres around the house which looks more like a modern castle surrounded by forest. A black Lincoln Town Car is coming down the drive. Whoever’s in the car must be doing a double take at the crowd on the front left side of the yard.

There we are: the rogue Guardians, my father and me. We’re all waiting to hear Sabine’s explanation for finding my father and Lucy on the property, abused and locked in an old dungeon. Sabine has several security guards with her, and neither group looks like they want to talk.

“Who’s coming down the drive?” Tullen asks. The way he’s staring at the car, you’d think he could see right through it, but the blacked-out windows reveal nothing.

Sabine doesn’t answer Tullen’s question. Instead, she gets right to it: “There must be a huge mistake. I didn’t know, I really did not know that part of the grounds was being used. My security is only set up in detail for the main house. That part of the property and the underground have been closed for years and only kept for their historical significance.” I quirk my eyebrow at her. She continues, “The property is registered with the historical society. We only have alarms on the second floor in case of intruders or vandals.” Sabine’s face doesn’t give much away, but I know she’s worried.

She should be.

Does she really think that I can believe this? That there could have been two prisoners held captive below her home, and yet she knew nothing? That’s insane. I look at my father, and he’s struggling. It looks like his stomach is bleeding and Quinn is bandaging him up. I need to get him medical treatment. I could just transport us away and get him to safety. That thought gets interrupted quickly.

BAM.

A huge light flashes at the back edge of the back of the property. It radiates wide and strobes a couple times. I blink to clear my eyes and focus, but I hear it first, a loud, slow clap coming from the woods.

“Excellent. Now the game is afoot. There is my highly regarded evil stepmother, trying to talk her way out of something devilish, I’m sure,” Evan says, his voice is mocking. “And then there’s my niece, naïve enough to believe that her grandmother would care about her.” Evan walks closer to us, along with an army of demons and other magical creatures close behind.

Sabine’s hands cover her mouth, her eyes wide. She stutters, “But you’re… you’re—”

“Dead? I’m sure you’ll continue to wish that was the case, especially with Willow here.” He gestures toward me.

Evan is about twenty feet away. Cross, Rhydian and Tullen are making a barrier of their bodies between Evan and me. Quinn is checking my father’s vitals, and he keeps pulling things out of a bag next to him. My father’s face is tormented, his eyes are dark, and there are bruises and cuts all over his body.

“Evan, I don’t understand. Did you do this?” I ask, not really wanting him to answer, afraid of the outcome.

“Did you know that being the bastard son of Harkin has some privileges? Like blood.” He spits the word as if it tastes rotten. “Sabine is the cause of many deaths. She’s the orchestrator of many events, such as the accident that separated you from your mother.” He points a finger between us. “The problem was, she was hoping to steal you away, but instead Nuala fought, and in the end, she died. Good thing your Daddy Dearest came along, because he saved you from a similar fate.”

Sabine’s eyes are full of tears. “Don’t talk about her! You have no right!” she yells.

Evan’s voice echo’s across the field. “Of course not. No rights for those not full Wiccan or different. You’ll always see to that, stepmother. Welcome to the new world.” Evan waves his hand, and the army waiting behind him yell “Ooh Rah!”

The army is ominous all muscles, broad and horns back from the head. The skin is dark and varies in color along with armor that covers the legs and back. The snarls on their faces and tensed shoulders have them at the ready.

Evan smirks at Sabine. “I have every right, because Harkin’s contract was in place for me to be the next in line with a betrothal of marriage to one of the noble covens.” He waves his hand in the air. “It didn’t matter anymore that I was a bastard, a little different. You saw it. You knew I wasn’t full Wiccan!” Sabine keeps looking from him to me. Evan continues, “You had every intention of killing me, to be rid of the next in line. When that didn’t work, you were responsible for the death sentence given to my Meghan.” Evan’s voice grew louder and his face tortured, “You knew we married in secret. The question is, did you know about the baby?!”

Sabine hangs her head and responds: “You knew Harkin. I didn’t affect his decisions like that. I tried… but all my children were gone. Liam, Nuala and Aiden had taken Willow out of Edayri and away. You were our last child.” Her voice hitches.