The Promise (The Coven Series) (34 page)

I
searched the crowd until I found Kay.
 
Billy had her pulled tight.
 
She’d
been crying.
 
I saw the pain and anguish
on her face.
 
She hadn’t known what they
were planning to do to me, but she had chosen the Coven over me in the
end.
 
If Billy hadn’t shut me up, I think
maybe I could have gotten through to her, made her change her mind.
 
I believed deep down that I meant more to her
than the Coven, but I couldn’t be sure.
 
I stared down into my father’s face.
 
I had to save him even if meant betraying Kay and myself.
 

“I’m
not the thirteenth daughter.”

“It
has to be you, CJ,” Mr. Martin scoffed.
 
“It’s not Makayla.”

“No,
it’s not Kay,” I agreed.

His
lips thinned to a seamless line.
 
“Don’t
play games with me
..”

“I’m
not,” I smiled.
 
“The thirteenth daughter
is both of us.”

“That’s not possible,” he spat.

“Sara
Bishop couldn’t stop George Howe from casting the curse, but she did what she
could to make it harder for them, for you, to see it through.
 
She cast a spell that split the soul of the
thirteenth daughter in two.
 
Daughter of Shadow, Daughter of Light, born not as one, but as two.
 
Kay and I were born in the same minute.
 
Half went into me, half into Kay.”

Kay’s
face blanched.
 
A wave of fear rose up in
me.
 
It wasn’t mine.
 
It was Kay’s.
 
I faltered in my conviction.
 
She
was a part of me and I had just handed her over to the crazy people, but hadn’t
she done the same to me?

Mr.
Martin’s face paled, but he straightened his shoulders much as I had seen Kay
do earlier.
 
“Well, I didn’t expect that,
but what must be done, will be done.
 
Bring her here.”

“NO!”
Kay screamed and kicked as Billy hauled over to stand in front of her
father.
 
I flinched at the blind terror
on her face.
 
Her screams beat at me,
tore my soul to shreds.

“Daddy,
please,” she begged.
 

“It
is your duty, daughter,” he told her sternly.
 
“You will do as you are told.
 
Now, this works out nicely.
 
Makayla, as you have dreamed of burning since you were a small child,
you shall be the beacon that guides our ancestors home.
 
CJ, your blood shall bind the ashes together
and give them shape when they arrive.
 
Yes, indeed.
 
This works out
better than I had originally planned.”

“You
evil bastard,” I snarled, unable to stop the rage that washed over me.
 
I could feel Kay’s terror the same as I had
that night on the boat.
 
Her soul was my
soul.
 
We were connected now as we had
been on that night.
 
“She’s your
daughter!”
 

“And
she has made me very proud,” Mr. Martin smiled.
 
“Her sacrifice will be remembered by all.” He grabbed one of her arms
and sliced from wrist to elbow.
 
Her
blood flowed down onto the ashes at her feet.
 
When mine mixed with hers, the spell would be complete.
 
There had to be a way to stop this.
 
There had to be, but what?

Mr.
Corey and Billy dragged her, fighting with every ounce of strength she had, to
the pyre and bound her to it.
 
I had
taken the dream from her, but you can’t erase thirteen years of remembered pain
from the body.
 
It knew what was
coming.
 
She may not remember the
details, but her body did.
 
I did.
 
I couldn’t let them do that to her, but how
could I stop it?

“Light
it,” Mr. Martin commanded.
 

Mr.
Corey set the tinder to flame and it whooshed to life.
 
Kay’s screams intensified.

Watching
the fire slowly crawl up the branches towards her brought my dream back in
vivid detail.
 
I felt the flames lick my
own skin, choked on the smoke.
 
It was
really happening.
 
They were burning
her.
 
What had I done?
 
How could I have let them do that to
her?
 
I felt her panic, her terror.
 
It ate away at me.
 
It wouldn’t be long before the flames reached
her.
 
Deputy Sims still held the gun to
my father’s head.
 
I had to find a way out
of this.
 
I had to save them both.
 

Mr.
Martin turned his back on his daughter.
 
“Bring her here, Matthew.”

Ethan
pushed me towards him.
 
I looked up at
his face.
 
Seeing Kay burn as they had
burned Sara had to be affecting him.
 
How
could it not?
 
But his face was
impassive.
 
There was no emotion
there.
 
He was as cold as the unyielding
winter winds.
 

Mr.
Martin closed the circle and began the chant once Ethan and I were inside.

“Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, fill our
circle with your might,

Spirit, bind them together and close this
circle.

Arwan and Agrona, I summon thee here this
night

To fulfill a promise made unto our
ancestors.

Aide us as we seek vengeance upon those who
betrayed us!”

The
ground shook and the sky darkened, blotting out the stars.
 
A strong wind tore through the trees and the
sound of galloping horses could be heard.
 
They broke through the trees.
 
The
leader circled around us.
 
His horse was
as black as the night itself and he rode upon it like he was a part of the
animal.
 
They were seamless, one blending
into the other.
 
His hunting party
pranced around him.
 
Arwan, the King of
Hell, had come to collect his souls.

A
wail sounded, its haunting cry bellowing into the night.
 
We all looked to the south.
 
A woman approached us.
 
She wore a simple gown of white with no
adornments upon it.
 
Her long, chestnut
hair swayed as it moved with a life of its own.
 
Her eyes were sad and full of pain.
 
I recognized that pain.
 
It was
the pain of loss, of grief.
 
She stopped
a few feet outside the circle and opened her mouth, her arms outstretched to
the heavens.
 
The soul shattering wail
emitted from her again.
 
The goddess
Agrona had joined us.

Mr.
Martin pulled me away from Ethan.
 
Up
until that moment, I had hoped by some miracle that Ethan would save
me, that
it would all be just an act, but he didn’t and it
wasn’t.
 
I thought I’d seen something
flicker in his eyes for just a moment in the woods, but I’d been wrong.
 
He handed me over to the devil without so
much as a by your leave.
 
I’d held onto
the hope that the love I’d seen in his eyes would surface again and he’d rescue
me.
 

That
hope died as he passed me over to the Coven Leader.
 

“Time
to begin,” Mr. Martin told me.
 

Kay’s
screaming echoed in the background, becoming fainter by the minute.

I
was alone, truly and utterly alone.

Chapter Twenty Nine

But
I wasn’t alone.
 
I realized that the
moment the thought tried to drag me into despair.
 
Honeysuckle tickled my nose, the warmth of
the August sun kept the cold October winds at bay.
 
I could smell the rain in the air and feel a
strength spark deep within my soul.
 
The
Elements were here.
 
I still had Kay,
too.
 
A part of us rested in each
other.
 
We could never escape that.
 
I felt her terror, but more than anything, I
could feel her shame at what she had done.
 
She could feel my
pain,
feel what her betrayal
had done to me.
 

She
stared at me.
 
Her voice had gone
hoarse.
 
Her mouth was open in a
soundless scream as the fire reached her legs.
 
I saw the sorrow and the need to be forgiven on her face.
 
Emily was with me too.
 
The silver locket pulsed with an icy breath
against my chest.
 
A piece of her was
there, against my heart.
 

I
might only have bits and pieces, but I wasn’t alone.

Mr.
Martin was right.
 
It was time to
begin.
 
I had to trust that the Fates
wouldn’t let them kill my father, but I’d be damned if I’d stand here and let
them sacrifice everyone I cared about for their stupid revenge.
 

The
sudden crack of thunder scared me right out of my skin.
 
It shook the ground with its fierceness.
 
I looked up to see storm clouds churning,
black and gray clouds swirling with a vibrant, silver light.
 
They were circling overheard like vultures
waiting for their prey to die so they could swoop in and scavenge the
body.
 

Mr.
Martin’s voice boomed out across the clearing, his voice as frightening as the
thunder, filled the night with a promise made centuries ago.

“Ancient ties that have bound us,

We beseech thee on this most holy night,
Samhain,

To follow the path we have lit for thee,

Come unto us as you have decreed,

Let the blood of this child be your vessel,

Fill her with your spirit, your wrath, and your
pain.

We honor our vow this night,

We summon thee, spirits of the lost and
betrayed,

Come now unto us and unleash your fury unto
those

Who betrayed you, cast you out and damned
you.

Come, I say, cross over and join us this
night

And let our blood oaths be forever freed.”

The
clouds centered directly above our heads.
 
A low sighing could be heard as they began to descend toward us.
 
It wasn’t clouds, I realized as they swarmed
closer.
 
Tonight was Samhain.
 
All Hallows Eve.
 
The night when the veil between the living
and the dead was at
its
thinnest.
 
The silver lights shining from the darkness
approaching were rips and tears in the veil.
 
The damned were crossing over, to seek their vengeance, aided by the
Silver Tongued King of Hell himself, Arwan.
 
Kay’s burning body guided them and they were headed straight for me.

Mr.
Martin gripped my hand, pulled it tight.
 
I felt the prick of a blade against my skin.

“NO!”
I screamed, ignoring Ethan as he edged closer.
 
No time for fancy spells.
 
“Earth,
help me!”

The
ground beneath us shook and spewed upward, throwing Mr. Martin backwards.
 
He held my arm in a death grip and pulled me
with him.
 
My free hand lashed out and
caught him squarely in the nose for the second time that night.
 
He screamed in rage.

“Air, free me!”

The
wind tore at us, pushing him back.

Strong
arms gripped me around the waist and pulled me free.
 
I looked up to see Billy.
 
No, I thought, desperately, but he surprised
me.
 
He threw me backwards away from Mr.
Martin and then ran for Kay.
 
I stared at
him in shock.
 
Coven Boy had just
betrayed his Coven for the woman he loved.
 
He jerked at the ropes, but it was useless.
 
They’d bound her with magic.
 
She’d only been up there for maybe five, ten
minutes, but the fire had already started to burn her legs.
 
He would never get her down before it killed
her.
 

I
had to put the fire out.
 
There was a
small creek just beyond the trees.
 
I
closed my eyes and focused my attention on it.
 
The picture firmly in my mind, I held out my hands.
 
“Water, come to me.”

The
sound of rushing water grew louder and louder as the water from the creek
rushed toward us, forming a wall of freezing liquid.
 
I felt the coolness of it wash away the
memory of the fire on my skin.
 
It broke
through the trees and I let it become a part of me, flow through me.