Unbound (24 page)

“Wait, I don’t think he’s going to hurt us.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I’ve seen him before.” The boy’s emotions flashed into my head. I felt overcome with sadness and despair. My life felt hopeless and worthless. The world would be a better place without me.

“Annie, what’s going on?” Ethan demanded.

I closed my eyes, trying to get a better read.

“Annie!” Ethan moved closer, blocking the boy from me. When I opened my eyes, he was gone. Ethan’s eyebrows were pushed together in concern. Hunter let out a high pitched whine.

“He’s gone,” I told him, feeling very weak now. I put my arms around Ethan for support. “I don’t know why he came or who he is. All I know is that he is so, so sad.” I closed my eyes. Traces of the boy’s energy floated in the air. “See, I told you it sucks being me.”

Ethan laughed and gently lay me back down. He let me rest for a moment before saying, “We should go before your parents come home.”

“You’re right.” I finished getting dressed. “You sure it’s ok to bring Hunter?” Ethan nodded. “Ok, just let me grab some stuff for him.”

***

“It’s nice to finally meet the girl responsible for making Ethan so happy,” a petite blond woman told me with a genuine smile. She had introduced herself as Julia. Her eyes were gentle, her voice kind and smooth as honey and a maternal vibe came from her. “I’ve been wanting to thank you. He’s been in such a good mood lately.”

Ethan looked a little embarrassed. “Thanks, Jewls. You make it sound like I’m usually awful to be around.”

I was sitting at the kitchen table in between Ethan and Julia. David, Ethan’s father, sat across from me. I had just finished telling them pretty much everything I had told Ethan earlier. David intimidated me a bit; his stern, dark eyes surveyed my face and he nodded every once in a while to something I said.

We had been going through Aunt Estelle’s books for almost an hour now, I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to be looking for but everyone thought we might find a clue as to how my life suddenly became a real life Sci-Fi plot. Except they didn’t say it like that.

 
“The door you’ve been holding closed for so long has finally opened,” David told me. He had also informed me that the books we were looking at were very old. I must have looked skeptical because he explained that there is a rather complicated spell you can cast to keep inanimate objects from the wear and tear of time. The way he emphasized
inanimate
let me know that this anti-aging spell can’t be cast on the living.

“You couldn’t do magic before your aunt died?” Julia asked, looking up from a book about Candle Magic.

“Well I never really tried,” I admitted. I closed the BOS, happily; I had just gotten to a particularly creepy part about summoning spirits. “But I have always been really lucky.” Everyone looked at me. “Like, I’ll really want to hear a certain song on the radio, and I’ll randomly choose a station and it will be on. Or I’ll forget to do a homework assignment and the due date will get pushed back. Oh, and one time I really didn’t want to go to church and somehow, no one’s alarm went off.
 
And other little things like that…I never really thought about it much but now that I am…there a lots of things that statistically just can’t be pure luck.” No one said anything. I thought they all were thinking I was stupid for thinking that such ordinary things were magic.

“You cast spells without even meaning to,” Ethan finally said.

“I guess so.” I didn’t like the awe in his eyes. Julia was looking at David, her eyes telling him something I didn’t understand. A creak came from the stairs. Another blonde girl, about my age I’d guess, was slowly making her way down. I didn’t even know there was anyone else in the house.

“It’s about time you decided to be social,” Ethan said, looking over his shoulder at the girl.

“Oh, shut up. I was tired.” She stopped behind Ethan’s chair and put a hand on his shoulder. “Who is this?” She looked at me.

“Hi, I’m Anora.” I smiled brightly. She turned to Julia. They had to be sisters. Both had the same facial features and the identical hair color.

“The distraction?” she asked her sister. Julia gave her a disapproving look but nodded slightly.

“Sit,” David instructed. The girl let her hand slid across Ethan’s back and sat on the other side of him.

“I’m Sam,” she said with a smile. “Uh, why is there a dog in the living room?”

“That’s Hunter. Anora’s dog,” Ethan explained. Sam still looked perplexed. “He killed a Pricolici.” Her face showed her shock. “Really?”

“Yea. He went right for the jugular. He had the thing ripped to shreds in minutes. We think he’s a Guardian.”

“Neat. Anyway, what are you guys doing?”

“You would know if you hadn’t gone and hid in your room,” David said, a bit of fatherly annoyance in his voice.

“I was tired,” Sam said one more time. She didn’t look like someone who had just taken a nap. Her hair was tidy and in place and her makeup looked freshly applied. It made me feel a little self conscious since my hair was in a messy French braid and I hadn’t put any makeup on.

Silence fell over the table after we filled Sam in on everything. “What do I do now?” I asked very quietly. Ethan slipped his fingers through mine.

“We’ll figure it out.” He squeezed my hand.

David leaned forward. “Do you know anyone who seems suspicious, anyone that has recently tried to get close to you?”

I searched my memory. “No. Not that I can think of, except Ethan.” I smiled at him for a brief moment before my face went serious. “Why?”

“Someone, or something, knows who you are.”

“And who am I, exactly?” I said each word very slowly. David leaned forward even more. His eyes narrowed in such a way that I knew what he was going to say had to be something important.

“As far as we know, you, Anora, are the only remaining kin of the Coven.”

I felt like someone socked me in the stomach. “What?”

“We’ve been looking, over the years, for others,” Julia said gently. “But I’m afraid we haven’t been very lucky.”

“You see,” Ethan said, just as gentle, “evil has always hated your Coven because your Coven’s very purpose is to destroy every evil they can.”

“So of course, evil beings would kill anyone in the Coven,” I finished. He nodded. “Oh,” was all I could say. Needing a distraction, I flipped through the BOS again. “But there are other witches, right?”

“Of course,” David said. “But they are hard to find. Natural witches like you are getting rarer and rarer. You tend to attract a high level of danger.”

“Oh, joy,” I said sarcastically. “What do you mean by natural witch?”

“You are the source of your power. Other witches get their power from their environment; the elements, the energy contained in nature or animals. More powerful ones from spirits and above that from Angels or Demons. But you, you are your own source.”

“And something evil would love to tap into that source and steal my power, right?”

“You catch on fast.” He smiled. “And of course, you are their enemy.”

“So even if we find out who’s sending the Pricolici and kill them, someone else will probably come after me.”

“Not probably, definitely.” It was the first time Sam spoke in a while. Maybe it’s just me, but she didn’t sound too sorry when she said it. I absent mindedly flipped through the pages of the BOS. Something inside of me told me to look at the current page. I found what we were looking for.

“Ethan!” I exclaimed. He looked at the page.

“Well, that answers a lot of questions.” Everyone else leaned forward to try to see what was in front of me.

“A Binding Spell,” I read aloud. I knew the handwriting was Aunt Estelle’s. “Is it safe to read this?” I asked Ethan, not wanting to accidentally cast a spell.

“Yea, since you have no intention of casting, it’s ok.”

I took a deep breath. “Out of love and pure affection, I bind your powers for your protection. Destiny’s cruel fate will you never face, a normal life you can now embrace. I bind your powers, I bind your powers, I bind your powers. Anora Paige Benson, I bind your powers.” I looked up at Ethan. He nodded for me to keep reading. “Under that it says to do this spell when the moon is at its fullest and to burn Devil’s Shoestring and High John the Conquer, which I believe promote safety and happiness while at the same time repels evil.”

Ethan nodded. Good, I was right.

“That explains why everything spiraled out of control after she died,” Julia’s voice came from behind me. “The spell was broken.”

“But what about the ghosts? Why didn’t the spell protect me against that too?” I asked.

I waited while everyone exchanged looks. “I guess it doesn’t fall into what she protected you against. Seeing spirits isn’t really a
power
,” Ethan offered. He didn’t sound too sure though, but I thought it made sense.

This was just too much to take in right now. My head was spinning. I was scared and excited at the same time. I felt uncomfortable around all these people. I wanted to be alone with Ethan right now. I wished I had a reason to excuse myself and take Ethan with me somewhere. Like he could read my thoughts, Hunter got up from his nap and stood by the door.

“Hunter needs out,” I said, getting up to grab his leash.

“I’ll come with you,” Ethan offered. I eagerly agreed.

It had cooled off considerably to the point where you could see your breath when you exhaled. Hunter, Ethan and I walked slowly down the road.

“You know, it’s not gonna be as bad as they make it sound. Sam and my dad can be really dramatic.”

I felt a flicker of hope. “You’re not just saying that to be nice?”

 
Ethan stopped walking and put his hands on my waist. “Look at me, Annie.” He pulled my hips into his. “I promise you. Things will look for you, and you are definitely at the top of many demons’ shit list, but not every day is going to be life or death.”

“Promise?” I whispered.

“Cross my heart.” I let Hunter’s leash slip out of my hand so I could wrap my arms around Ethan’s muscular torso. He dipped me backwards and kissed me. “See, that wasn’t bad, was it?”

“Hmm, I’m not convinced. Better try again.” He kissed me again, this time harder and more passionately than before. Ethan loosened his grip around me and took my hand. We slowly walked down the street.

“There’s good and there’s evil,” Ethan explained. “And there are humans, caught somewhere in the middle of a constant cosmic battle. You can choose to fight, or you can choose not to.”

“But I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

Ethan stopped abruptly, his shoes skidding on loose pavement. “There is always a choice,” he said roughly. “No matter what the situation, you have the power to act or not act.” He started forward again. “Yes, you are caught in the crossfire more than the average person, but you still have a choice.”

We turned around in silence, walking just as slow back to the house. I’ve always thought that if I could make the world a better place, I would. Knowing what I know now, and actually having the power to make a difference…well, the choice was obvious to me.

“I choose to fight,” I said, looking at Ethan.

He smiled. “Good, ‘cuz I do too.”

We came to a standstill again. I stepped close to Ethan, welcoming his arms around my waist. I tangled myself around him and leaned up to kiss him. When we pulled apart I caught a glimpse of someone watching us from inside the house. It was Sam, and she looked super pissed.

“So how do you know Julia and Sam?” I picked up Hunter’s leash, ready to go back inside.

“Their parents were in the Order. They got killed a long time ago. My dad and their dad were really good friends and they’ve lived with us ever since. Julia is a psychic; she has visions every once in a while. But what she sees is usually pretty irrelevant. Her mother, I’ve been told, was a very reliable psychic though.”

“So being psychic doesn’t make you a witch, right?”

“Right. But most the time people with gifts like that—and like being a medium— are witches to begin with.”

“Are only females witches?” We were back in the house now.

“Technically the term ‘witch’
is
female. I guess males with power would be called wizards then.”