mythean arcana 07 - witchs fate (16 page)

She cranked the keys and the engine roared to life. 

She guided them carefully out of the marina and through the harbor. Large homes dotted the shore on all sides. As soon as they made it to open water, she cranked the throttle and the boat burst forth, speeding across the water.

Wind immediately bit through Sofia’s jacket. She shivered violently, but couldn’t stop the grin from stretching across her face. It froze her teeth, but she’d take that in exchange for the awesomeness of going fast on the water. Gods, she loved this.

The boat cut across the small waves, hardly bouncing at all. She headed north around the coast toward Halibut Point, the place Lucy had mentioned last night. The sun was nearly at the horizon. Dusk was falling.

“Tell me when we’re getting near!” Sofia yelled over the engine and wind.

“All right!” Lucy kept her gaze locked on shore.

Sofia couldn’t help but glance at Malcolm, but she tried to keep it at a minimum.

“You can stop here!” Lucy shouted.

Sofia cranked down on the throttle and they drifted to a stop. Waves rolled them lightly.

“All right, I’m getting in.” Lucy stepped up onto the deck and jumped off, clothes and all.

When she surfaced, she’d changed entirely. Her skin was a pale blue and her hair a bright green. Weeds, Sofia realized. Brilliant seaweed.

“Follow me. I’ll stay close to the surface. You should be able to see a bit of wake.” She set off, darting through the water, setting off a ripple that spread outward.

“Keep an eye on her and direct me,” Sofia said.

Malcolm nodded and Sofia started the boat. He held out his arm, leading her, changing it every so often when Lucy shifted direction. 

Eventually, Lucy popped out of the water and waved an arm. They slowed to a halt beside her.

“There.” She pointed toward shore. “That’s the house.”

Sofia squinted, but saw nothing. Damn, the Salem Coven was good. It was easy to hide a place or building from mortals. But from Mytheans? Damned hard.

“I see it,” Malcolm said.

Sofia scowled, then pulled out her wand. She waved it in the direction of the land, focusing on her vision and clarity. The air shimmered, then a beautiful white house appeared. Two stories, with expansive decks and glittering windows.

Very different than the High Witches’.

“Thanks, Lucy,” Sofia said.

“Not a problem. I think.” Lucy rubbed her eyes with a pale blue hand.

“Can you drive a boat, Lucy?” Malcolm asked.

“Sure.”

“Can you take this one back to the Marina? Leave the keys near the wheel?”

“No problem.” She swam to the side of the boat, then heaved herself out. As soon as she was out of the water, her clothes returned. Her hair became blond and her skin pale.

“And you’ll forget about us,” Malcolm said. “You’ve never seen us.”

She nodded.

Sofia handed her the keys, then turned to Malcolm. “We’ll aetherwalk to the grounds outside, don’t you think?”

“Yes. Better to do it a bit farther away in case they are able to sense an outsider aetherwalking onto their property. Then we’ll walk there.”

“Good. Kitty!” she called down into the cabin. 

Kitty bounded up the steps and onto the deck, then pressed herself against Sofia’s legs. Sofia held out a hand for Malcolm. He took it, then stepped so close that his body almost touched hers.

“I’ll take us,” he said.

“Okay.” She tried to ignore his warmth.

A second later, they stood amongst the scrub brush on the shore to the south of the mansion. Sofia could make it out far in the distance. Juniper scented the air. She nodded at him and set off, heading toward a copse of trees farther from the shoreline. Kitty led the way.

“Let’s keep to these,” she said. “They’ll provide a bit of cover and we can try to break in through a side door.”

Malcolm nodded, then kept close beside her as they crept along the edge of the forest. They neared the house. Lights were blazing from most of the windows. Crows sat upon the roof. Dozens of them. Perhaps hundreds.

“Strange,” Sofia breathed. She’d never seen anything like the crows. With the dark sea roiling behind the house, it painted an eerie picture.

They reached the edge of the trees, but there was still at least fifty yards between them and the house.

“Do you think those crows will send up an alarm if they see us crossing the grass to the house?” Sofia asked.

“Possibly. I’ve never seen anything like it. Animals are attracted to witches, but usually not so many of one species.”

A door opened at the side of the house.

CHAPTER TEN

Sofia held her breath as she watched the door.

A woman walked out. She had short, messy dark hair and wore jeans and a t-shirt. She dug something out of her pocket. Cigarettes. She raised one to her mouth as she set off across the lawn. She lit it and headed for the water. No familiar followed her, which was strange.

“Will your mind control work on her? We could get information from her. But I’ve got to assume she’s strong.”

“It should. I’m stronger than any of them individually.”

“So is it a good thing or a bad thing that she just walked out?” Did she smell a trap?

“Can’t say. Could be a setup, but they couldn’t know we were coming.”

“It’s so much easier to try to enchant one of them than sneak into the house. Maybe she’ll walk far enough from the house that we can aetherwalk right to her. Then you pull your mind control thing.”

Sofia watched, her breath held, as the woman strolled along the cliff edge that led down to the water. The nearly full moon lit her way. It was a lovely night for a stroll, though cold. 

Perhaps this was legit. 

Either way, they had to try.

“She’s far enough away now. Let’s go.”

Sofia reached out and placed a hand on Malcolm’s shoulder. Once Kitty had pressed herself up against Malcolm’s leg, he took off his cuff and aetherwalked them to a spot right behind the woman.

She spun around, but before she could say anything or attack, he reached out and touched her temple. 

Her wide eyes calmed and she stared at them.

“We’re your friends,” Malcolm said. 

“Of course.” Her voice was leaden.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Inara.”

“You’re one of the Salem Coven?”

“Yes. The youngest.”

“What do you know about the spell book?”

“Which one?”

“The most valuable, the one that other witches covet.”

“Ah, the Grimoire. Yes, that one is valuable. It’s protected, though.”

“How so?” Malcolm asked.

“It’s within a special room that is a portal to our afterworld. It’s only accessible on All Hallows’ Eve, when the barrier between the worlds is weakest. It’s the best way to protect it. Only a Salem Witch who is a world walker can access our afterworld. Without dying, at least. And only on All Hallows’ Eve.”

“Tomorrow,” Sofia whispered. No wonder the High Witches had told her to get the book now. But they needed a Salem Witch who was also a world walker. That would be hard, unless….

“Can you take us there tomorrow?”

“Yes. I’m one of the three who can walk across worlds. On years when we need the book, one of us goes to the room to retrieve it. It’s never been me, though. I’ve only been part of the coven for fifty years.”

“Do you need the book this year? Is anyone going to get it?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then tomorrow, you’ll get the book and bring it to us here.”

“My magic isn’t strong enough. I need someone to link me to this world while my soul goes to the afterworld to retrieve the book. Someone whose power equals my own.”

Shit.

“We’ll go with you,” Malcolm said, his voice firm. “I can link your soul to this world. My power is equal to yours. We’ll meet you here and you’ll take us to the room. I’ll help you get the book.”

She nodded. 

Unease skittered across Sofia’s skin on little mice feet. This was too easy, wasn’t it? What were the odds that a witch who could help them would walk out of the house right when they needed her to? 

“Malcolm, ask her if she often walks outside to smoke. Or did she sense us?”

Malcolm repeated the question.

“I do come outside to smoke often, though I usually just sit on the stoop. But I sensed you in the forest. I walked to draw you close to me. Like wounded prey attracts a predator. I was ready for you. But I don’t know why I didn’t attack you. I always turn away outsiders. But there’s something special about you.” Confusion gleamed in her eyes.

How about, we enchanted you? 

“I believe her,” Sofia said.

“So do I. And my enchantment is working.” Malcolm turned his attention back to Inara. “We’ll meet you here tomorrow. Is there a certain time the barrier is weakest?”

“Midnight, of course.”

“Then we’ll meet you in the woods near your house at eleven pm. You won’t mention us to anyone. You won’t remember us until tomorrow, just before eleven.”

Inara nodded. “Until tomorrow.”

She turned and walked away.

“Let’s get out of here,” Sofia said. Though she didn’t want to go back to his house, there wasn’t an alternative. She was so far from her home and aetherwalking took so much energy that she needed to go with him. Actually….

“I want you to take me back to my village,” she said.

“No.” His voice was firm.

“Malcolm. Don’t be such a heavy-handed asshole.”

His brow creased. “Fine. I’ll take you there, but you need to come somewhere with me first.”

 “What? Now?” It was past ten, which wasn’t all that late, but she was beat.

“It should be now.”

“Where?”

“To get more help. In case we fail tomorrow.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“It’s not likely, but it’s possible. We only have one of the coven on our side. There’s a chance the High Witches have sent us on a suicide mission. But we can get around that with help.”

“But who’s more powerful than you? A god?” 

“Corrier.”

Sofia stepped back, surprised. “You’d take me to Corrier to ask for help? He must hate me. I left. I abandoned the opportunity he gave me.” She hadn’t even said goodbye that day when Malcolm had chosen becoming a warlock over her. She’d just run.

“You were his favorite pupil.” Malcolm grasped her shoulders and she didn’t move, desperate to hear what he had to say. “It broke his heart when you left. For a long time, he was angry. But he’s softened. He’ll help you.”

Sofia shuddered at the thought. Her throat had that raw, trembly feeling that comes with the need to cry. She’d always loved Corrier, but she’d blocked out thoughts of him when she’d left the apprenticeship. She’d been horrified when she’d learned what he’d sacrificed to become a warlock. What he wanted her to sacrifice.

But now she had a chance to see him again? And Malcolm said he’d forgiven her?

Not that she had anything to be forgiven for, she reminded herself. But it was so hard to separate the reality of a situation from the longing of a student to make a favored professor proud.

“Okay,” she said. “Take me there.”

She held out a hand and he took it.

Nerves made goosebumps pop up on her skin as she waited for Kitty to press against Malcolm’s legs and for him to transport them. She’d lost more than Malcolm when she’d turned away from becoming a warlock. Though Corrier hadn’t been as important to her as Malcolm had, he’d been her most valued mentor. She’d grown to idolize him as she studied under him. 

Now she would see him again.

A moment later, Sofia stood in a familiar valley. An enormous cliff rose in front of her, waterfalls pouring down their faces. Cold wind whipped across her cheeks as her boots crunched the snow.

Norway. After leaving, she’d never returned. She turned left, to where she knew Corrier’s fortress would be. It grew out of the cliffside—gray stone, one with the mountain behind it.

“It hasn’t changed,” she said.

“No.”

“Do you come back often?” she asked as they walked to the great wooden doors.

“No,” Malcolm said. He opened his mouth, then shut it. Finally, he forced the words out. “I have complex feelings regarding Corrier. I wanted to be a warlock, but as a result, I lost you. I’ve been bitter.”