Starbound (23 page)

Seth gave me a WTF look, his brows drawn together.

Before I reached the edge of the clearing, a figure emerged, followed swiftly by another with longer angry strides. Two women. The second woman’s flowing dress ate up the ground after the one with hair just like mine, but lengthier. I was taken aback at the similarilties between me and this woman. They were both dressed in shimmery fabrics that would make any fashion designer want to get their hands on. Moi included. I’d never seen anything like it, and the shapes of the gowns—stunning. Sexy cutouts that played peek-a-boo drew the eye.

There was a ghostly quality to the two new guests. And I noticed for the first time since the change in the air that the glade looked different. It was the wrong season. Trees were flourished with vibrant green leaves—thick and dancing. Wildflowers, nightshade, and mandrake were in full boom, popping in bold colors against tall blades of grass. Along with a few other flowers I’d never seen, but would love to get my grubs on.

A whoosh came over me as the one with raven hair walked almost right through me. She would have if Seth hadn’t pulled me out of the way. I heard Olivia gasp behind us. My eyes met Seth’s, warning me to be more cautious.

There were no words I could find to best describe what had just happened, or the creepy feeling that settled in my gut. It was like an echo of a memory.

The older woman with long raven hair and yellow eyes flung a spell at the young clone of me that had her jerking around to face the older one. She joined him in the middle of our circle, oblivious to the number of eyes that were on them. “Arachne. You will do wise to not turn your back on me a second time.” It was a terrifying voice, one that turned my blood to ice and gave me goose bumps. I had a sneaking suspicion that this scary woman was the creator of the curse.

“Crazy there has your eyes, Katia,” Elena jeered, just as captivated as I was by the scene in front of us.

Seth put a finger to his lips, signaling for her to keep her big trap shut. I couldn’t have agreed more and gave her my you-will-pay-for-that-later look. It was pretty darn effective.

Regardless, I didn’t think the apparitions could hear us. That would cause a ripple in time or something—not good. But it was better to be safe than sorry and keep our lips sealed.

Arachne’s eyes were pools of sadness. A gentle wind swirled through her silvery-white hair as she confronted the other woman. “Isa, you know that we never wanted to hurt you. Avery cares for you.”

Isa sneered. “I guess when I found the two of you together he was showing me how much he cared.”

“We were going to tell you. He is my starsoul, Isa. What would you have us do?” Arachne pleaded, her eyes begging for Isa to understand.

“Rot in Hell.” Isa spat the words with such violent hate. Her body shuddered. “You knew how I felt about Avery. You never gave us a chance. You just swooped in and took what had been mine and, in the process, stomped all over my heart.” Isa suddenly seemed to tower over the petite Arachne.

“I would gladly take your pain. Isa, you have been a sister to me, a mentor, my best friend.” The gut-retching despair in Arachne’s voice cut straight through me, slashing like knifes.

Isa gave a cold, humorless smile. “
And
that is the worst part of your betrayal. I took you in when no one else would have you. I taught you to be a skillful warrior. You were a sister to me. I curse you, Arachne. Your soul be damned. You took my heart, and I will have yours—Avery’s too.” She held her hands palm up on either side of her, magick sparkling from the fingertips in a display of power I’d never witnessed.

There was a uniformed sense of wonder from my circle. Isa was a badass, not the kind of nixie I would ever rumble with. She was also letting pain and hurt rule her gift—a deadly combo.

Archane’s shoulders slumped. She looked so lost, and Isa just kept pounding on her like a human punching bag. “Look.” She flipped over her wrist. “These marks prove that he could never love you as you wanted him to. Please, don’t do this, Isa. It isn’t his fault. You are right. I should have stayed away. I should have resisted his charms.” It was evident how deep Archane’s love was for Avery that she would all but fall to her knees in regret and say anything to save him.

“A little too late. Nothing will save you and your lover now. I will ensure that no blood of yours will ever love a Nightingale again. Not as long as it is within my power,” she said in a lethally calm voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

A surge of energy shot from her fingers. The curse, a visible glimmer of purple smoke, rushed toward me fast, and fear churned my insides. I knew it wasn’t possible for it to hit me, as it wasn’t really here but in spirit, yet it didn’t change the fact that the sight put me in a terrified daze.

Arachne’s eyes widened, and it was her voice that snapped me back. “No!” she yelled. “Isa.”

But it was too late.

She never even tried to defend herself. The great warrior was rocked with a jarring impact, stumbling as the force of the spell slammed into her. It weaved around her slender body like ribbon, choking her with its power.

Instinctively I jerked.

Olivia had tears in her eyes.

Zeke dug his fingers into his hair.

Even Elena had a reaction, in her own way.

My hand went to my mouth. “Oh God.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Seth said from behind me, laying a hand on my hip. It was a small comfort, but just what I needed.

I blinked.

The mist. The lush green. The smell of summer. It was all gone.

I was on my knees, my hands spread out over the pages of the book, trembling. Lifting my head, I looked at the others who were clearly as shaken as I was. It wasn’t just what we had seen; the return to the present felt like it had sucked the life out of me. I was drained.

Seconds ago we had been walking around, witnessing a harsh past, and now sitting in our circle, it was like none of it had taken place. We stared at each other, needing clarification that we had all had the same experience, that it had been real.

Elena broke it down best. “That was the worst trip of my life,” she muttered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. Her silver eyes were as big as saucers.

I couldn’t have agreed more. A permanent chill had taken up residency inside me.

“Christ. Why do these things always have the worst aftershocks?” Zeke groaned, rubbing the sides of his temples.

Olivia was ghostly white.

Elena stood up, brushing dirt from her knees and scowled at me. “You seriously have a messed up family, and I see boyfriend stealing is in your genes.”

I didn’t have the energy to cross words with her, so I just gave her the stink eye. At least we were all safe and mostly of sound mind—Elena, in my book, was still batshit crazy. I ran a hand over my face, wiping a cold sweat from my brow. This little trip down ancestry lane had shaken me more than I wanted to admit.

“Hey, you okay?” Seth asked me, nudging me gently with his shoulder.

Was I? “I don’t know. Not really,” I admitted.

“Let’s get out of here.”

I nodded.

There was no reason to stay and linger. The spell had worked. It had done its job, but we were no closer to breaking the curse than we had been before.

Fuck.

Chapter 23

Katia

I could feel myself tumbling down a long tunnel of depression. It came out of nowhere. After the spell, I thought I would be okay—that I was strong enough—that my love for Seth would see me through the worst of times. But I was wrong.

Horribly wrong.

Love…was a joke.

Love wasn’t going to save me.

Save us.

There was nothing that could. No spell. No trick. No charm. It was stupid and naïve of me to think that there was something we could do. Who were we but a bunch of teenagers with minimal magickal experience? Our circle had been formed from boredom, curiosity, and friendship. It wasn’t meant to test the spiritual bounds outside of our realm.

My despair crashed inside me, crumbling me to the point that I didn’t care what happened. What was the point of living a life without love? Without happiness? Without Seth? I had always been dramatic, and my emotions ruled so many of my decisions. Seth had all the control and determination. I acted on pure feelings, whatever was in the heat of the moment.

The next week was nothing but a blur. The spell and seeing the woman who ruined my life could have never happened—it was that insignificant. Didn’t help that I went through the motions of living like a zombie. I was too busy being stuck inside my own head, trying to work through the reality that Seth and I had to go our separate ways. Graduation was tiptoeing around the corner, but the curse was upon us and always would be.

I couldn’t ask him to continue on as we had, tempting our lives.

But before we moved on, I needed to say goodbye. A proper goodbye. I only hoped he wouldn’t make it any more difficult than it already was.

Seth

Kat’s dimples were my downfall.

She stood in the doorway with a smile that made my knees buckle, and I knew she was up to no good. There didn’t appear to be anything
sick
about her, and she most definitely was not knocking on Death’s door. I didn’t know what kind of game she was playing, but I had seriously been worried, heart-jumping-out-of-my-chest worried. Rushing over here in the middle of the night, I had nearly caused a multi-car pileup.

I knew that she had been having a hard time lately, skipping school more days than she actually went. And then I got the text a little bit after 11:00 pm…

Leaning in the doorway, I crossed my legs. “What is going on?”

She put her finger to her lips, indicating for me to be quiet.

My brow shot up.

Grabbing a handful of my hoodie, she tugged me inside the silent, sleeping house, and against my better judgment I let her. Kat was up to something, but it was the first time I’d seen her smile so brightly. I didn’t have it in me to diminish her gleaming grin.

“My parents are asleep,” she whispered.

I sent her a look, telling her I thought this was a very bad idea. She ignored me, lacing our fingers, and led me upstairs. What kind of shenanigan was she up to? The door to her bedroom softly clicked behind us followed by the turning of the lock. Now I knew I was in trouble.

Kat and I alone in a bedroom was bad news.

And really hot.

My eyes narrowed. “You better have a damn good reason for sneaking me into your room.”

She gave me another devastating smile. At this rate, I was going to be putty in her hands. “Don’t be mad. I needed to see you,” she informed.

Mad?
I wasn’t sure mad was what I was feeling, but I knew that if I didn’t leave, I was going to do something insane, like attack her with my mouth. All of her.

A stream of moonlight broke through sheer white curtains that billowed with a gentle breeze. In the center of the room was a big old bed with ancient carvings on the headboard. Something Celtic would have been my guess. Beautiful and lyrical.

Her room was cluttered with a rainbow of colored crystals and bottles. They hung from a thin wire in front of each window, casting shadowy rainbows on the ceiling, the walls, and the floor. It was as breathtaking as Kat herself. The scent of her was in every nook and cranny of the room, a mix of cherry blossoms, faerie roses, and ancient magick.

I tried not to get swept away by it, by her. She had been absent from life the last week, and I wanted to soak up the sight of her even though my head knew it would only lead to suffering. “You know that we shouldn’t be here alone.”

She pushed off the frame of her bed undeterred by my prickly tone. “I was afraid you would say no, and I really needed to see you in person.”

I folded my arms, appearing bored and at the same time trying to tell my body to relax. “You’re right. I would have said no.”

A smug look crossed her expression.

“Well, I’m here now…”

She inhaled, taking a step toward me with purpose and determination. “So I see.” She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, rocking back on her heels. “I need to ask you something, but before you shoot me down, just think about it. Please?”

I angled my head, trying to ignore the jump in my pulse. “My instincts tell me to say no now, before I even hear what you have to say.” My eyes darkened.

She ran a hand through her tangled curls. “Seth,” she groaned.

I smirked. Hearing my name on her glossy lips was intoxicating.

“This isn’t a joke. Spend the night with me?”

The air was sucked out of my lungs. That had not been what I had been expecting, and she took me by surprise for the second time.

“Just sleep,” she rushed, pleading her case before I ran out the door. Too bad she misread the look in my eyes. My shock was more because I very much wanted what she asked. “I want to be in your arms,” she continued. “I want to feel safe for one night without the nightmares.”

I bit my lip. She knew how to break through my resolve. Trouble and something else brewed in her silvery eyes. It was the something else that had my body coming alive.

She took another step toward me. “How many more times am I going to have to say goodbye to you? It seems like that is all we do. I am just asking for one night, and then we can go back to how things used to be.”

I think we both knew that if I stayed, there was no going back. Below the aggravation in her face, there was something impish in her voice. I understood her frustration, and a warning went off inside me. We needed to create distance, as she implied. I got that. Hell I endorsed the idea…or I used.

Before I had sealed my fate to hers.

Now the idea of being separated seized me with dread. “Just sleep. No funny business.” I stepped closer, watching her eyes widen, and tucked a curl behind her ear. I was feeling dangerous.

She rolled her eyes, but the enormous grin betrayed her. “Yes, Daddy.”