The Four Horsemen (The Light Series) (20 page)

I
shrug, “Go to Boston, unless you know of a way to call the witches.”

Stella
shakes her head, “No. We sent the nixie for the earth witches. I nod, “I’ll fly
us over.”

“You
and Wyatt?” Constantine asks from the book.

“Yeah,
me and her. The earth witches like me better than you.”

Constantine
smiles but continues to read, “Apparently, all women prefer you to me.”

Wyatt
grins, “It’s my boyish good looks.”

Constantine
gives him a look, “I always thought you resembled your mother.”

Wyatt
laughs. Stella winks at him. Of course I get another shitty look from her
though. Gill laughs, even if he doesn’t get the jokes. I smile at him, “Do you
think this is the right choice, bringing back the fae?”

He
nods, “The white stag spoke to you. That is everything we fae have waited for.
We know of the prophecy of the white stag, only the savior may see him though.”

Wyatt
wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses the side of my face. I almost
pinch myself to see if it’s real.

I
look up at him, “We have to go see Willow.”

Mona
looks excited, “I almost forgot—Gill can paint the painting you need. He
can make a magic painting.”

I
look at Gill. He nods happily. I think he only plays one station, content.

“You
can paint a panting like the one I broke, and it will go to the same place?”

He
nods again, “I can mend the one you have.”

I
almost squeal. I rush over and grab his hand, dragging him down the hall. My
wings shoot out of my back as we’re running. He starts to laugh. I wince and
blush, “Sorry. Sometimes when I get excited…”

He
shakes his head, “It’s fine. It could be worse.”

I
give him a look. He shrugs, “There is a man cursed in the garden. He turns into
a donkey when he gets excited.”

“Creepy.”

We
get to the room and dig the slashed painting out. He touches the slash in the
canvas, “I need a couple hours, but I’ll have it as good as new.”

Wyatt
is standing in the doorway, grinning when Gill leaves. He cocks an eyebrow, “I
have an idea on how to waste a couple hours.”

I
look down blushing, as he closes the door.

We
touch the star, holding hands and hoping it works. I close my eyes and
instantly we are there, on the hillside. Willow comes running as soon as she
sees me. She tackles me in the grass, “NENE!”

I
hug her. She stops and smells me, “Oh my God. What did I say about sex?”

I
grimace. She turns and looks at Wyatt, “It drains her. She has to feed more
often if she does it.”

Wyatt
gives her his cocky grin, “Well, she must be starving then.”

Fitz
walks up, giving Wyatt a disturbed look. Wyatt clears his throat and I look
back at Willow, “He’s kidding.”

She
sighs, “I told you no.”

“Mom,
stop. We’re married.”

She
narrows her gaze, “Fire witch ceremonies don’t count, and being married doesn’t
make you less of a sin eater. You are what you are.”

“Popeye?”

She
scowls. I smile, “Okay, sorry. I won’t do it again until I have everything
fixed.

She
sighs, “That isn’t the point I’m making. You have to eat more when you use
energy.”

Wyatt
gives me a look, “We’re doing it again.”

Willow
gives him the bad look. It’s close to the one she used on him when she stabbed
him with the knitting needles. I see him flinch a little. I’m sure he recalls
it. She points, “You will get sick if she eats often.”

I
make duck lips, “Mom, he’s an angel.”

She
looks at Fitz who nods, “John, the archangel.”

Willow’s
mouth opens and then closes.

She
looks at him and nods, “Oddest combination ever.”

I
smile, “We have another issue.”

She
gives me a look, “The antichrist?”

I
shake my
head,
“Gretel and Constantine took memories
from us, from when we were young. It was when I was one of the other girls but
Wyatt was a boy. We want them back.”

Fitz
looks nervous.

Wyatt
turns to him, “What do you know?”

I
point at him, “That’s why you let them put the evil in me. You didn’t want me
with him. That’s why you looked like you crapped yourself the first time you
saw me. You knew all this time.”

He
loosens his collar, “We never imagined you would find yourselves again. The
curse was perfect. You could be in the same room and not even see each other.”

Willow
looks at him, “What did you do?”

He
shakes his head, “They were so young and she was the… well, you know. We had
already poisoned her. She was dying and he was a child. His heart would break
and you know what happens to us when our hearts really break. We never recover.
Look at Gretel, she’s still evil.”

Willow
gets off of me and looks at him with hatred in her eyes, “What did you do to
them?”

He
looks down, “We got the fire witches to curse them and then we let Constantine
take her.”

I
wince. My memories of him saving me are not real. Maggie feels sick inside of
me and Ellie feels betrayed. She’s a savage, so it’s not good. She wants blood.

“We
knew she was dying. We had poisoned her already. It didn’t matter if
Constantine took her. He wanted her. He thought she might help bring back his
sister, Stella. She was devastated at the loss of their family members to us.
He and Gretel made a deal; Constantine would wipe their memories and recreate
new ones after the witches separated their souls.”

Willow’s
hand draws up to her lips, “You separated soul mates?”

He
looks ashamed, “I’m sorry, Willow.”

She
shakes her head. Instantly they are gone from the painting and only Wyatt and I
are there. The
lady
who was there the first time I had
been, walks out of the cottage. She looks modern and cleaned up. She gives me
an odd look, “Are they all right?”

I
shake my head, “I don’t know. May we leave through your portal?”

She
nods, “Of course. Careful, it’s awful out there.”

I
take Wyatt’s hand and touch the star. We are instantly in her little house. He
looks at me, “We are soul mates?”

I
nod, “I know.”

He
smiles, “I can’t even be mad. I don’t know why, but I can’t. I have you, so I
don’t care.”

I
stand on my tiptoes and kiss his lips, “I love you.”

He
holds me to him, kissing me back and then my forehead, “I love you too.”

“Do
you think Willow will forgive Fitz?”

He
shakes his head, “I don’t know. Would you forgive me?”

I
don’t answer. I want to say yes, but if he tried to separate two people I loved
more than life, I don’t know if I would.

He
nods, “I know. I don’t know either. That’s pretty intense.”

“But
we found each other again.”

He
bends and kisses my face, “I will always find you.” I lean into the kiss, “I
know. I tried running before, remember?”

He
laughs, “You can try again it you want, but I’ll find you.” He looks down on
me, “Seriously though, we need to find this witch who cast the spell. Only the
one who casts
it,
can remove it.”

“What
if she’s dead?”

He
shrugs, “We’re going to the Van Helsing house and we’re not stopping until we
find the answer.”

We
leave the small house, clutching our jackets and sweaters. We are both dressed
in Stella and Constantine’s clothes. Her boots feel weird on my feet, but I’m
grateful to have the warm clothes and somewhere I can call home, besides Wyatt.

He
pulls me along the street.
I don’t have any weapons
,
I don’t like that
.

We
run like we are evading someone, looking around us and trying not to make a
sound.

When
we get to a car that is parked in an alley, he runs over to it. There is a dead
man on the street next to the car. Wyatt doesn’t even think twice; he reaches
into his pockets and pulls out keys. He presses the fob. The back lights light
up. He gives me a grin. We both climb in. He backs up and drives like the
psycho he actually is. I forgot how bad it is to drive with him when he is on a
mission.

He
looks at me, “My dad… uh… yeah. My dad might know the way to the witch.” His
face flushes. I realize how he must be feeling, learning his parents are not
who he thought they were. I put my hand on his, “I know.”

He
looks at me, “That you do.”

We
drive to his parents’ house on the ocean. I shudder when I see it. The memories
are not only painful to remember, but I can feel the pain all over again.

He
gets the door for me and takes my hand.
 
The hateful little brat opens the door with a crossbow in her hands. She
points it at me, “Why is she here?”

He
shoves her out of the way, “We need to see Dad.”

“He
isn’t here. Hasn’t been in five days.”

Wyatt
looks at her, “You’ve been alone for five days?”

She
scoffs, “I’m two hundred years old, Wyatt, not seven. Why is she here?” She
keeps the crossbow on me.

He
looks at me, “She is my wife and she is the savior of our people, so she can go
wherever the hell she likes. Put the bow down.”

She
shakes her head. He grabs for it but she pulls the trigger. I wince as the
nearly-silent
arrow lodges in my stomach. My wings rip out
of my shirt. She drops the bow, “Oh shit.” She looks at me, “Oh snap, sorry.”

I
look down at the arrow. Wyatt grabs me, kisses me, and pulls the arrow at the
exact same time. I almost suck from him, but he does the wind tunnel thing. I’m
getting hungry. He gives me a
look,
“We need to get
you to some bad people.” I look at his little brat sister and nod.

She
shakes her head, ”There is no way. You’re actually good?”

I
sigh, “Who was the witch who cast the soul separation spell on me and Wyatt
when we were young?”

Her
eyes bug out. Wyatt shakes his head, not looking at her guilty face. “She
wouldn’t know that. Mom wouldn’t have told her.”

She
swallows. I fold my arms, “Spill or I eat you.”

She
jumps, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I
glance behind her, seeing something that just can’t be. I narrow my gaze,
shaking my head. But it is. Fitz comes towards me, “Rayne, she knows. Ask her
again and tell her that her dearly-departed uncle also knows who ratted him out
for being with the witch.”

I
glare at the evil face of the ten-year old, “Your Uncle Fitz is standing behind
you. He says he knows it was you who sold him down the river for being with
Willow, and he says you know who the witch was.”

She
takes a quick look behind her. She doesn’t see him, but I do. He reaches for
her, making her shudder as his hands reach her. She looks at me, “The name of
the which was Glory. She was an earth witch.”

I
look at Fitz, “I can’t talk about it. Part of the spell was that it couldn’t be
talked about. Gretel must have found a away around it and told her.”

I
scowl, “Constantine talked about it.” I get a crazy look from Wyatt and Maggie.
The same crazy look with their similar dark hair and blue eyes.

Fitz
nods, “He’s a soulless devil. Of course he could talk about it. It was never
him they were worried about.”

“They
thought you might spill the beans?”

He
nods.

Wyatt
looks around, “You can see Fitz, now?”

I
point, “He’s there.” I look at Wyatt, “The beautiful earth witch who was
friends with Willow, Glory. The redhead who loved you…”

He
nods.

“She
is the one who cast the spell.”

His
jaw sets, “Nasty bitch. Guess we’re going for a boat ride.”

We
walk down the stairs in the secret passage and to the far side of the room. The
weapon walls are empty. “What happened here?”

He
looks, “They must have been fighting things, and gone to war against the
darkness of the world.”

We
get into the elevator. He rolls his eyes when he sees my face, “It takes
nothing to impress you,
you
realize that, right? I
could show you a sparkler and you’d moan in delight.”

I
stick my tongue out at him.

He
leans forward and kisses me, “I love that about you.”

I
wrap my arms around him, “Is it wrong that I want to go upstairs and let the
dead take me and have a long sleep with you wrapped around me?”

He
shakes his head against mine, “No. I feel the same. I’m beat. This is insane. I
can’t believe we are gong in circles. Glory should have told us when she saw us
together.”

I
sigh, “I know. All their shocked faces and weird behavior is making sense now
though.”

He
looks at me, “I know, right? Everyone. I can’t believe my own family lied.”

I
feel the hurt look on my face, “Try the guy you thought loved you and you loved
back.”

He
sneers, “Well, I’m not sorry that happened. I like you having reasons not to
love
Basarab
.”

“My
heart broke still, it hurt.”

He
gets into the boat and helps me in. I look at him, “Can you drive slowly?”

He
shakes his head. I wince, “Fine, but please try. I don’t want to barf again.
I’m clean for the first time in weeks.”

He
laughs as he backs the boat up.

When
we get part way across the bay, the mist comes again.
Such a
creepy place.
He docks the boat, and I stare up at the house of the
witches. It’s still dark and creepy. I crawl from the boat to the dock and lay
there for a minute.

He
lifts me up but I shake my head, pushing him away. “No.” I heave and gag over
the edge of the dock. I feel worse than last time I think. “I hate boats. Why
didn’t he horsemen destroy boats?”

“Come
on, marshmallow.” He wraps an arm around me as I dry heave again and stagger up
to the door. He knocks hard. Glory answers after a second. She gives me a look,
“You’re still with us?”

It
finally hits. I bend over and throw up into a potted plant next to the front
door. She jumps back as Wyatt rubs my back. “It’s okay, baby. Get it out.”

I
stand up and lean against the doorframe, “Fuck you, Glory.”

Willow
is there behind her,
“Rayne Willow
Whynde
Phillips, you watch your mouth,
missy
!”

I
jump when I see Willow. She is next to Glory. I point, “Willow, it was Glory. She
put the curse on
me and Wyatt
. She is the witch who
separated our souls.”

I
hear gasps from inside of the house. Glory’s face is beat red. She steps back,
“How? They could never speak of
it, that
was the
curse. How do you know?”