Timespell (33 page)

“Hold still,” Angie murmured.

“Ouch,” Kaitlyn hissed. She locked eyes with Angie, biting back a comment about being more careful. Angie was helping her, after all. But why?

She sucked in her breath as an idea blossomed in her mind. Maybe the good girl thing Angie did wasn’t an act. All this time, maybe Angie’s actions had nothing to do with her. Kaitlyn’s eyes slid shut. Every time Angie acted pure and innocent, maybe it wasn’t to rub it in that Kaitlyn slept with different guys. Maybe she wasn’t rubbing her perfect life in Kaitlyn’s face, either. Angie was just Angie. Being nice. Helping people. It wasn’t an act. Maybe she really gave a damn about how people felt.

“I’m sorry,” Angie said softly, the light dimming from her hands. “Indira must have used a cursed blade. Magic didn’t work on Julia’s hand and it won’t heal you, either.”

Kaitlyn’s throat went dry. Angie couldn’t heal her, but it could have been worse. She watched Julia’s hunched form. The girl hadn’t said anything in a long time. She just sat beside Ethan, staring out the broken window.

“We have to seal the portal so we can get back to our time,” Angie continued softly. “You both need a doctor.”

Kaitlyn’s hand trembled as she lifted it to her face. Something inside her burned as she imagined the gash across her cheek. It didn’t feel like enough that Indira was hexed. If she was going to spend the rest of her life disfigured, she wanted Indira dead.

“Julia?” Angie said, her voice soft with concern. “We have to go now.”

Julia wrapped her arms around herself.

“Come on.”

Julia shook her head before dropping it to her knees.

“We’ll come back for him,” Angie said. “After we seal the portal.”

Julia glanced up. “His mom,” she said. “Brian.”

The girl covered her face with her arms. Her shoulders shook with the force of her sobs. Kaitlyn turned away. Working for the Fates was a crock.

Angie finally coaxed Julia to her feet. She leaned on Angie, who led her to the door. Kaitlyn followed. Angie had cast some kind of numbing spell on her face, but it was wearing off. The burn
began near her ear and curved down to her mouth. The thought of what it must look like made Kaitlyn want to throw up.

They passed through corridors and rooms. Angie seemed to know exactly where to go, but there were no mirrors along the way. Maybe it was better that way. She wasn’t sure she could ever look in a mirror again.

Angie
glanced across the darkened courtyard. The portal was here. She felt the dark flow of energy push against her, compelling her to walk in another direction. “This way,” she whispered.

Angie shuddered and stepped forward, entering into the dark currents of magic, so opposite of everything inside her. It was nearly too much. Her mark grew icy cold, sending terror through her heart instead of power. She squeezed her eyes shut, her thoughts twisting into horrific images. She saw her mother lying in a pool of blood, killed by a creature. Was that happening at this very moment? Were the creatures attacking their families? Her mother’s dead eyes stared up at her. David was next. He fell to his knees as a creature reached into his chest and pulled out his heart.

They had to get back to their own time.

“Angie!
Angie
!”

Strong arms pulled at her. She fell back on the ground, gasping, her throat raw and her face wet with tears.

“Are you okay?” Kaitlyn asked. “You started screaming like a crazy person.”

Julia took her by the shoulders. “You’re shaking.” Her red-rimmed eyes stared at the dark swirl of magic. “What did you see in there?”

“We have to go home.” Angie struggled against Julia’s hold as her thoughts splintered. Visions of what was happening to their families and friends flooded her mind. “We have to go now!” Her stomach churned as bile rose in her throat. She clutched her abdomen against a wave of nausea, fresh tears springing to her eyes. “Kaitlyn, the threads. Hurry!”

“Wait,” Kaitlyn said. She reached a hand into the mass of dark energy. A grimace broke across her face, fresh blood oozing from her gash. She drew back her hand. “It’s the protection of the portal. It’s sending you lies and fear. It’s using your own mind against you.”

A tremor stole through Angie’s body as she shook her head. “It was real. I felt it.”

“What better way to keep you out than to convince you with fear? Don’t believe it. Let’s get in there and seal this thing already.”

Angie saw her mother’s face again. She couldn’t go back in there. She
couldn’t.
She had barely made it one step inside before being paralyzed by fear. How could she last all the way to the portal at its center? She didn’t have the strength.

Her mother’s dead eyes floated up through her consciousness.

“No, no, no,” she whispered, clutching at her head, as if she could physically force the thoughts from her mind. She had to think of something else, anything else.

Three little kittens they lost their mittens, and they began to cry.
“Three little kittens,” she whispered, unable to keep her words inside. She was rocking back and forth, completely unable to hold it together. “Three little kittens.”

Warmth poured through her.

She glanced up in surprise as Kaitlyn’s presence flooded her mind.

“You’re losing it,” Kaitlyn said, lowering her hands. “And you’re the one who keeps us together.”

“We have to do this,” Julia said, taking hold of Kaitlyn’s hand and reaching for Angie with the other. “Otherwise, the creatures really will take over, and Ethan died to make sure—” her voice cracked. She turned away with a silent swallow.

Angie let out a forceful breath. Ethan can’t have died for nothing. Everything she had spent her life learning came to this moment. This was her destiny. Her grandmother’s legacy.

She stood, taking Julia’s outstretched hand. The magic burst through her, strong and sweet, but different now, laced with sadness. The aching force flowed through Angie, binding them even as it flowed through them.

They stepped into the swirling mass of darkness. Angie sensed the fear welling in the other girls’ hearts. She felt her own terror rising.
We have to keep moving forward,
Angie told them.

The fear curled inside her core. Angie tightened her grip on Julia’s hand. “We’d better hurry.”

“No,” Julia whimpered, tugging herself back. “I can’t.”

Angie’s heart hammered in panic. How could they defeat this?

Kaitlyn’s presence fully entered both Angie’s and Julia’s minds.
This fear can’t touch us,
Kaitlyn said.
Pretend there’s a force field around you, and it’ll be like the bad stuff isn’t even happening.

The magic grew stronger as Kaitlyn sent them a surge of power. Angie drew on it.
A force field. Kaitlyn, that’s perfect.
She created a bubble of light around them, protecting them from the dark energy.

Shadows swirled in the darkness beyond their shield. Angie clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering as a set of red, glowing eyes focused on her.
We can only do this if we work together. I need to keep this force field going. Don’t stop sending me your magic.

The three girls moved forward through the thick darkness of the portal’s protective gloom.

Angie felt the hold on their shield weaken with each step. If creatures came through the portal now, the three of them would be at the mercy of the dark energy.

A snarl broke through the silence. The glowing eyes advanced.
A minotaur! Kaitlyn let go of me. Julia, help me keep it going.

As soon as Kaitlyn released her, their protective barrier dimmed. The minotaur charged at them. Kaitlyn sent it a blast of white energy as another appeared. Angie tried to draw on the power Julia sent her, but Julia’s despair over Ethan engulfed her. The emotions pouring through Julia seemed to crave the dark energy around them. It was as if Julia wanted to submit. She seemed to welcome the horror and desolation.

“I can’t keep this up forever,” Kaitlyn cried. “There are too many of them.”

Fissures appeared in the fading shield. Cold wisps of fear seeped through the cracks.

I’m so sorry,
Angie said.
But you must stop thinking about Ethan. We’re not going to make it like this.

I can’t help it.

You have to help it.
She sensed Julia’s pain. She could barely breathe because of it. The anguish pouring out of her friend wrenched at her heart.
We have to keep this force field strong against the protection of the portal.

The barrier grew bright again as Julia focused on their task. Step by step, they moved ever closer to the center of the swirling mass of darkness, until it was so thick with fear and oppression every movement was an act of sheer will. Images of David swam across her vision. He clutched at his chest, his hands coming away with blood. Angie cried out, paralyzed by the sight of him dying in front of her.

Julia moaned.
It’s hopeless. Maybe we’re all meant to die.

Angie took deep breaths of dark air. The force field was practically nonexistent now.
Julia, you have to try harder!
She dove mercilessly into her friend’s mind, horrified to find her reliving moments with Ethan instead of helping to maintain the force field.

Why should I try? Ethan’s dead and it’s because of me. If I had summoned him sooner he’d still be alive.

Angie shut her eyes. It was wrong to force Julia’s magic from her. It was
wrong
.

But she did it anyway, finding Julia’s essence and drawing out every ounce of power and energy she could squeeze from her. Julia struggled, but Angie’s years of training hadn’t been wasted. She easily overpowered her friend. It sickened her to see Julia’s face grow slack, her eyes growing dull as Angie found her essence and began maneuvering her like a puppet.

She caught Kaitlyn’s approving nod even as Julia sent her waves of betrayal. Angie grimaced against both emotions, but neither mattered. All that mattered was that the protective barrier flashed bright and strong, a tool allowing them to complete their task. She released her grip on Julia’s mind.
Let’s hurry.

Julia glared at her, but kept up with her as they raced in their bubble of light toward the center of the blackness. They reached a circle of deep, dark red. A flame that didn’t flicker but glowed steadily, pulsing with dim light.

“There it is,” she whispered.

“What do we do?” Kaitlyn asked, her chest heaving and her hands still glowing white.

“We put our hands into it and link up,” Angie said. “Destroy it from the inside out.” Before she could elaborate the flame swelled out, growing wide and warped, writhing as if it was a living thing.

“That’s disgusting,” Kaitlyn said.

“Stun it before it comes out,” Angie cried.

Kaitlyn sent the portal a bolt of magic, but the thing only grew larger.

“We can’t stop this one,” Julia said.

“Yes we can,” Kaitlyn said. “Drop the force field. All three of us blast it together.”

Angie let out a labored breath. No force field? They would be defenseless against the dark energy.

Julia and Kaitlyn blasted the creature as its head emerged. It was an echidna, if its beauty were any indication. If it emerged, it would easily control their weakened minds.

“Hurry,” Kaitlyn said, white light streaming from her palms.

Angie let go of her hold on the force field. Terror gripped her heart and she screamed at the nightmarish images that came to life in front of her. She lifted her hands, ignoring David’s bloodied body, ignoring her mother’s pleading. She blasted the emerging echidna, energy pouring from her hands and joining the other two streams of light. The echidna fell back through the dark portal, her face twisting with rage.

“Now. While it’s empty,” Angie said, ignoring the fear in her heart. She thrust her hand in the center of the portal. Fiery heat raced up her arm and she grimaced. Julia did the same, crying out as she grabbed onto Angie’s wrist. “Take Julia’s wrist, Kaitlyn,” Angie called. “I’ll grab yours so our hands form a link.”

Kaitlyn jammed her hand into the portal. Angie found her wrist. They were all connected, the power between them flaring to life more powerfully than it ever had before. A fierce wind howled around them. Angie braced herself. The Fates themselves would use their bodies, entering their minds to seal the portal forever.

A tugging sensation gave her a start. She resisted it for a moment, afraid of what might be happening.
“Relinquish control, Daughter,”
a voice whispered in her mind.
“Abandon yourself to me.”

Angie clung for another moment to her body. Was this what death was like? Did she have any choice in the matter? She shivered, releasing control of her mind. She was no longer a person, but an empty shell to be used. A being slid into her body as Angie’s essence slipped out and away. She watched herself in fascinated horror—from outside her own body—as her eyes flashed white.

A voice that wasn’t Julia’s spoke through her friend’s lips. “They have done it, sisters.”

“They made mistakes,” Angie’s lips whispered, her face emotionless. “Yet you sound as though you praise them, Lachesis.”

“Do not judge them too harshly, Atropos,” Julia said, her voice rich and warm. “They are young and untried.”

A Fate-controlled Kaitlyn turned her glowing, white eyes to Julia. “They are weak. I fear they will not succeed.”

“We shall see,” Lachesis said. Julia’s face glowed bright as she turned her gaze back toward the portal.

“This mortal body tires me,” Kaitlyn said, her lips turned down. “Let us be done with our work.”

The Fates faced the portal. Angie watched as her body grew brighter, as bright as the sun. Light burst out through the center of the portal as a boom of power echoed through the world. Her spirit was jerked forward, reentering her body with enough force to knock her forward. The portal swirled in front of her, sucking in the darkness around them, growing blacker and smaller with each passing second. It spun faster, until it made Angie dizzy to look at it. She stumbled back, clutching at her skirts as they whipped around her. All at once, the wind stopped. The portal vanished in a single flash of darkness, leaving behind a dimly lit garden and the boom of cannons.