The Gleaning (20 page)

Lily stabbed her sword into the dirt, and a thick mound of earth shot up in front of her, forming a shield. Logan watched in disbelief as the gravestone looking mound sucked up his ball of fire.

He sneered, unsheathing Blue Dragon. He wasn’t in the mood for anything less than steel on steel. And electric steel was bound to be even more fun.

With a weighted swish, he swung the thick blade toward Lily, scattering the mound into sparks of golden dirt.

No longer protected, the sword grazed her ear, snipping a piece of her hair. He watched it fall to the dirt. She flicked ignited swordfingers toward his feet. He jumped, but not in time. He smelled his flesh burn. If this was all for show, she was sure putting in a good effort. He swung at her again, not hard enough to hurt her, just brush past her. Effortlessly, she twisted out of the way with a triple cartwheel, landing on her butt with a hard thud.

Logan took advantage, storming deliberately toward her, swiping at her ankles. He thought for sure he’d at least nick her, but Lily deftly rolled out of his way and leaped into the air higher than he’d ever seen a Spinner jump without the ability to levitate.

Her eyes opened wide, sparkling with flame.

He blinked in disbelief. The change was happening so fast.

You are way off your game, prized warlock. Better watch out, or I’ll be blazing fire before you can even get a spark going.

It was the ring—the stones—making her so violent. The Gleaning was too intense.

Lily, it’s okay. It’s almost over.

Are you soothing yourself, Logan, or me?
Her calculating eyes unnerved him.

It’s all just a show
, he told himself.
For the Congression, the masters. Glean some
magic and go
.

She paced in front of him like a lioness.

No time for friendship in the Gleaning, right?

Lily, stop it. Why are you saying these things?

He tried to block her voice and focus, but the electric charge in the air was hard to ignore. It made him feel more aggressive, more violent than he liked. It was obviously having a similar effect on Lily.

Now that you’ve had a taste, you must want it so badly. All the purity, all the eternal youth. How good it would feel coursing through your veins…

I don’t want that. I just…

So Jacob can glean it off you later, right? So he can be young and virile again? Too bad we’re not going to let you take what was never yours.

I just want both of us to get out of here in one piece, Lil. You know that. What’s your problem?

You’re my problem.

His eyes caught on the lavender ribbon wrapped around her wrist.

This wasn’t Lily.

Fool him once, shame on her. Fool him twice? Not happening. Logan stopped fighting his violent urges and gave into full-on rage. He swung his weapon through the air again, slicing invisible enemies as he charged her. The dark energies grew, pulsing through his body; he had never despised anyone like this. Not Jacob. Not Jude. No one.

He didn’t want her injured; he wanted her dead.

Metal clanging metal, the two dueled through the circle until Logan pinned the witch against the tallest stone. He shoved her as hard as he could, his strong arms pushing her sword sideways into her chest, dangerous shocks sparked through them and around them. She pushed back. Her sword versus his. Hard. She was strong. Nearly as strong as he was.

But not quite.

The witch’s eyes danced with flames as her face reddened from the pressure of his sword. She was trying her damndest to glean his magic, but he wasn’t letting her.

Shame you wouldn’t just reveal your damn mark then; would’ve made everything a lot easier for you.

She was trying to distract him, to throw him off his game. He shouldn’t give in to her. But he had to know.

Who are you?

Someone who doesn’t believe you’re the Chosen.

While he reeled from shock, the witch kneed him hard in the gut. She twisted, knocking the sword out of his hand, sending it spinning in the dust.

With a single kick to the side, he knocked the sizzling sword from the witch’s hand, and sent it sprawling. Then he charged her, kicking her hard in the stomach. She tumbled backwards and knocked her head against the stone.

The loud crack excited him, sparking a fiery new energy in his body; he was advancing, too.

Everyone watched, waited, as the witch slid slowly down to the ground, leaving a trail of bright red blood on the stone. She landed in a heap, convulsing from the stone’s electricity.

Logan approached her slowly, the burning pain in his eyes making it almost impossible to see.

Get up,
he sneered. Sparks shot off his sword as he tapped the side of her thigh, in an effort to rouse her. Her response was the weak flinch of a dead snake.
Get up, witch.

He nudged her again. No response. Was she unconscious? He hadn’t really meant to hurt her this badly.

Logan glanced once more at the fallen witch, then at the creepy trio for guidance. But they were just standing there hiding behind their masks. What were they waiting for? Call the match!

Suddenly, Logan felt a burn, a stinging white-hot burn in his thigh and then a sharp blow to his jaw.

What the…?

A blur of white. Of lavender ribbon. When his vision cleared, he saw her fiery eyes fading to a cooler green.

Diving onto the ground, Logan rolled in the blood-stained dirt, reached out, and snatched up his sword. He swung it at the revitalized witch without restraint.

She had the same idea. Sparking metal clanged as they fought it out in the circle. The witches cheered for her. The warlocks cheered even louder for him.

Black heat, angry bloody heat, flooded his insides.

Damn, you’re easy to play. No wonder Lily has such fun with you.

He wanted victory so badly, he could smell it. And this time it smelled like a poisoned Lily.

With pure brute strength, he finally knocked her off balance and sent her to the ground. Before she could jump up, he straddled her and raised his sword over her heart.

You’ve already lost, Logan.

You’re the one on the ground.

Familiar position for us, isn’t it?

I’ve got you. Surrender. It’s over.

You’d have to kill me first. And if you do that, she’ll never forgive you. Because she loves me.

Logan’s eyes flashed with fury. Taking advantage of his distraction, the witch rolled out from under him. With a graceful twist, she rose high into the air—ten feet off the ground. Legs circling, suspended in space, she shot mesmerizing, ice-green darts out of her eyes. Then suddenly, she swooped down to kick him hard in the jaw. Levitation.

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

That damn witch had reached Jade; and this time, when he tried to stop her from gleaning his magic…he couldn’t.

Lily was fast. But the doppelganger was faster.

Enchanted bare feet seemingly flew over the forest carpet of pine needles and damp euca-leaves. The doppelganger rounded a corner, and with a flick of her swordfinger, flashed a jolt of magic to distract Lily, blinding her momentarily. The soles of her feet pressed so hard to the ground, that when she lifted back off, she caught air on the upswing, flying a few seconds longer than a normal human could, longer than a witch even, before landing again. She grinned with pride. This magic was stronger than anything she’d experienced before.

The doppelganger ran. Faster than a goddess.

The spell wouldn’t last long, however, and she needed to make the most of it while she could. If Lily caught her, she’d have to confess. That certainty was all she needed to keep one foot in front of the other.

“You look a mess. What happened to you, love?” a suave, British-accented voice asked from overhead.

The doppelganger looked up, surprised to see a boy about Logan’s age, with modelesque bone structure and a tight-ass bod, sitting on a tree branch. Dressed in a V-neck black shirt and black pants, his mischievous blue eyes shone through the darkness like the Cheshire Cat’s.

“What’s it to you?” She didn’t have time for games. Even if this particular player was red-hot.

Sensing her urgency, he slid down and landed in front of her. Right in front of her. Practically chest to chest.

“I don’t have time for poppycock either, so I’ll cut right to the chase. Your Mistress sent you to see if Logan’s ‘the one,’ yes?”

She nodded.

“Right. Well, I dunno about you, sweetheart, but I’m tired of following orders. Of being told what my destiny is. Why is it always Logan? Why is it always Lily? Aren’t you tired of playing second fiddle to the class pet?”

She frowned. “What do you know about it?”

“Honestly? More than I’d like.” He pressed closer, pinning her against the tree, breathing heavily in her face. “Why don’t we make our own destiny?”

Instead of pushing him away, she leaned toward him. In an equally aggressive voice, she asked,“What do you have in mind?”

“Be this." He brushed her face and torso with the back of his hand. "Be
her
in the Gleaning. You know you’ve always wanted to have what she has. And you know Logan isn’t going to fight back if you look like her. If you drain him of all of his magic, you can have what she has and so much more.”

“But I couldn’t do that to Lily.”

Jude laughed. “Ah, so you don’t deny that you want to.”

“Who wouldn’t want to lead the Sisters? But I can’t hurt her like that.”

“What you’ve done to her already is just peachy keen, eh?”

He twined a piece of her hair around his finger and stared into her eyes.

She glared back and flicked his fingers away.“This is different.”

“But don't you see? It’s for the best. They can get out of this game for good.”

“But there’s a prophecy.”

“Ah, about that. Between you and me, I think this whole ‘Chosen’ thing is misunderstood. By Chosen, I believe the ancients meant the most powerful from each coven. That combined, we can break the curse. All the pressure will be off of them.”

“What makes you think they don’t like it?”

“You don’t think they’d be happier snogging on the beach every night like the human kids? That’s all they want anyway, just to be together. You and I want so much more.”

He looked at her deeply. “I saw you run—how you almost fly. I think you are more powerful than Lily.”

“Yeah?” Even without the Enchantment, she did sometimes wonder…

“Yeah. So why would she be the Chosen? It doesn’t make sense, does it?” His sales pitch was growing more appealing by the second. “You
have
to do this, love, or Lily might let you down. Let us all down.” After his grand speech, he raised his eyebrows, waiting for her answer.

The doppelganger licked her bottom lip, intrigued. “How would I keep Lily out of the way while I take her place?”

He leaned in again, painting an invisible jagged line down her cheekbone with his fingertip. “You’re a witch, sweetheart. I’m sure you can think of something.”

“And you? What’s your role?”

“I’ll weaken her for you.” He reached for her sparkly, enchanted hand. “Just give me some of her essence, and I can cast a hex on her with voodoo.” He fingered the lavender ribbon on her wrist, and then pulled a voodoo doll out of his pocket, showing it off to her. “If I can just weaken her before the Gleaning, we can start siphoning her energy. You will drain Logan, who thinks you are her, while I take care of Lily. Soon, you and I can take their places as the Chosen."

Lily

Music. Dancing. Floating candelabras.

Where was I?

I was wearing a heavy pearl-pink dress with the widest, fullest skirt I’d ever seen, much less worn. In my right hand, I held the stick of a mask. A masquerade! Through the eyeholes, I saw couples twirling across the ballroom.

What was I doing here? I had vague, yet powerful feeling that I was expected elsewhere… The Gleaning! So how had I wound up in a ballroom? There was gap in my memory, as if I’d been drugged. But I didn’t feel the least bit sleepy.

Next to me, a girl, who looked alarmingly like myself, was floating inches above the ballroom floor, engaged in deep conversation with a boy who looked remarkably like Rose’s Will.

I’d gone back in time.

Reeling, I leaned against the wall and listened as William asked Rose what her necklace was meant to protect her from. His amethyst eyes gleamed in the candlelight as he fingered her amulet.

“Not a what, a who.” Rose moved back, and he let the necklace fall around her dainty, white neck.

He didn’t lose any time filling the space she created. “Any ideas who this dangerous person could be?” My great-great-grandfather asked in a perfect Southern lilt that reminded me a lot of Chance’s Cajun accent.

“I suspect it could be you,” she said.

“Ah, that couldn’t be it, because I would never hurt you.”

I sucked in a breath. Her hand fit so perfectly in his. Just like when I was with Logan. I could tell she wasn’t afraid of him at all.

“How is it that I’m not stepping all over your toes?” She grinned. “I’m two left feet in our parlor.”

William smiled cryptically. “Perhaps it’s because we aren’t touching the floor?”

Abruptly, the music died, and the floating dancers descended back to the ballroom floor. Then a voice boomed from the top of the stairwell. “Welcome, Spellspinners, one and all, to the
Bal masque
and initiation ceremony.”

Initiation ceremony?

My escort walked away from me with a quick bow, and I stayed near Rose, clutching for dear life the butterfly-shaped mask concealing my eyes.

The man at the top of the staircase was strikingly handsome in his Edwardian-era tux, with dark hair that grazed his shoulders under a velvet top hat. His hungry indigo eyes poured over the crowd as if we were a sea of creatures, and he was deciding whom to pluck out and devour. I sensed the extreme danger of his presence. I tried to make myself as small as possible, even though I wasn’t sure he could see me. Or if anyone could. Why was I here? I needed to be back in the Gleaning.