House Of Ivy And Sorrow Part 28

A chunk of flesh.

By the time I run the knife over my hand, I'm in so much pain it hardly registers. I let the blood flow into the concoction, waiting for the liquid to settle. I don't know why, but I know it has to settle before I stop the flow. It's like the bubbling cries for more payment, more pain, more sorrow.

And then, in an instant, it stops simmering. I pull my hand away, dizzy and tired, and the battle hasn't even started.

Breathing in the magic, I fill up only to pour it into the spell. It needs more. More. I'm terrified by how much it needs. This will take time, which I don't have. Lightning flashes so brightly I can see it through the green velvet curtains. The screams are on top of us, and the house moans back as the wind pushes at it.

I can feel him near; his greedy, evil wanting swirls overhead. He has broken through the outer barriers, and he stands before our house of ivy, fighting his way in. I don't have to look to know.

"Everyone!" I cry. "I need your help to finish this off."

Their hands encircle the pot, and they pour their magic into my spell. We weave and weave the elements together, use our magic to knit them until they cannot separate. Little by little, the potion shrinks and forms. Into what, I'm not sure, except that they are round, about the size of an Olympic medal.

The color changes to a sandy brown, with flecks of black. As I peer down at the two circles, I try not to laugh. I hold them out for Gwen and Kat, who eye them warily.

"A cookie?" Gwen asks.

I smile. "Nothing says home like a chocolate-chip cookie, right?"

Kat grabs hers. "Guess we should be happy it doesn't look like bear heart."

"True." Gwen takes a bite. "Huh, it actually tastes like home."

Kat nods in agreement. "Except I don't feel any different."

"Me eith-" Gwen falls from her chair and Kat follows. Their eyes don't close, and when I put my finger to Gwen's neck, I can't find a pulse.

FORTY-SIX.

"No. No, no, no." I pat Gwen's cheek, my head flooding with all the things I could have done wrong. They are totally limp, not breathing, and I can't see anymore because my eyes are filled with tears. They can't be dead. Please don't be dead. "Gwen, sweetie, I can't do this without you or Kat. I can't live without you guys."

Prudence kneels next to Kat. "They shouldn't have died. The spell may not have worked, but you paid more than enough. This could not be the consequence."

I'm still crying. I did this to them-I should have never been so reckless. "What do we do?"

Prudence gives me a sad look. "All we can do is wait."

"Wait? For what? For him to bust the door down?" I lay down next to Gwen, hugging her. I can't look into her dead eyes, so I close them. This can't be happening, but I can't hear her heart.

They both look dead.

Dead.

"This can't be right," Prudence says again. Her disbelief is surprising, what with her initial a.s.sumption that I was crazy to even try. "Your composition was well conceived, and we poured everything into it."

"I must have missed something," I whisper.

"I don't think so." She puts her hand on Kat's stomach, presses as if it'll wake her up.

"But we are missing something now, perhaps," Nana croaks, and then goes into a coughing fit.

I force myself to look at Gwen again, searching my mind for anything that might fix this. We can't raise the dead-or rather, the sacrifice is too heinous to even consider it. And there isn't time anyway. I can feel his magic pressing in all around us, hungry and excited for the pain he'll soon inflict.

"I'm so sorry, Gwen." I take her hand, trying to pretend that she's still here. "I don't know what to do. I just wanted to give you magic. I never thought . . ."

I gasp when I feel it. Magic is leaving my body, being drained like when Levi sucked it out of me. I jump up, scared that he found a way to Curse me, but the feeling disappears as quickly as it came. I search the room for the threat, but I see nothing. No Shadows.

"Josephine?" Tessa says, as if I'm on the doorstep to insanity. "Are you okay?"

"I thought I felt-"

Gwen's finger twitches.

I put my hand over my mouth. Of course! Rus.h.i.+ng back to her, I grasp her hand and push my magic into her. If I feel bad without magic for even a few minutes, how awful would it be for a body to suddenly need it and not know what to do? They're empty. New.

Her hand tightens around mine, and I let out a joyful squeak. "Pru, take Kat's hand and give her some magic."

Her eyebrow raises. "What?"

"They're not dead! They're empty."

"Ohhh." She grabs Kat's hand and gets to work. "C'mon, sweetheart, time to wake up."

Gwen moans. Her eyes flutter open and fix on mine. "Did I die? I have a feeling I died."

"You did." I can barely breathe as I look at her, a strange and unreal recognition rus.h.i.+ng through me. My blood . . . it's in her now. I can feel her power. She is definitely a witch, and more than that, she is a Hemlock. Not just in name, but in blood.

She's my sister.

Gwen pulls herself up, rubbing her eyes. "And now I'm back?"

"I think you were . . . reborn."

Kat groans as she comes to, and I feel it again. Sisterhood. True, perfect sisterhood. "You said we wouldn't die, liar."

"I didn't know!"

"Whoa." Kat puts her hand to her head. "Is this magic? That tingling in the air?"

"Yeah. Can you breathe it in? Hold it inside you?" I'm terrified waiting for their answer. What if I made them like Levi? What if they have to feed off us for magic? That would be worse than death, to have turned them into monsters.

They both close their eyes, and after a few deep breaths they smile.

"That's . . . fantastic," Gwen says. "I feel like I can conquer the world if I wanted to."

I let out a relieved sigh. They're real witches. There are more Hemlocks in the world, and having four in one room makes me realize why the Blacks want us gone. We are powerful, and we can stop this. I tackle them both into a hug, relis.h.i.+ng in all the family surrounding me.

"We don't do that whole world-domination thing, Gwen." Maggie bounces over to us. "But maybe we should tell you the rules after we kick the s.h.i.+t out of that Shadow."

"Margaret!" Tessa says.

She rolls her eyes. "C'mon, Mom, I know you want to. And now it's six on one! We just have to go out and get him."

"No," I say, the happy moment already gone. "We're not going out there-he has the advantage."

Maggie tilts her head. "Huh?"

"He has a ma.s.sive amount of magic. Hundreds of times what we can store." I stand, pacing the room as I think. "If we leave our property, we only have what we can hold. That's not enough. We have to do this on our turf. Here, on this land. We have an infinite well of magic if we stay here. All he has is what he's stolen."

"He won't get any more from me. I refuse to take it in," Nana says, her voice so weak it hurts my soul.

I offer a sad smile. "Strong to the bitter end, aren't you?"

"Of course, dear. I will do what I can."

Prudence makes a disapproving face. "But take down the barrier? Let him on this land? He would taint it with all that perverse magic."

"No, he can use up his magic trying to get it down. It'll give us a little time to-"

A deafening crack shudders through the house, and we cover our heads as the jars and bottles rattle against the cabinet doors. Once everything is still, I rush to the window.

At the gate stands an older version of Levi, his eyes as wild as his smile. And yet his suit is crisp, as if he's here to talk realty. Which, in a sick way, he kind of is.

When his eyes find me, my entire body goes cold under his cruel gaze. I can't help but feel terror-Jeff is so much worse than I expected. A million times worse than Levi. I'm not even sure one could call him by his human name-he is that Consumed by the darkness. I recognize the feeling immediately-it's exactly what I felt when I cleansed my dad.

He wants to take everything I have.

He will enjoy slowly destroying me.

He puts his finger to the gate's latch, and even though no one uninvited can enter, it opens.

FORTY-SEVEN.

"Looks like our planning session is over." I head for Nana's desk, where the lion-jaw dagger sits on its stand. I pick it up, the bone smooth and cool against my sweaty palm. It's not much, but I'm taking anything that may even remotely help. "Where are the charms?"

"Here." Tessa holds up an arm's length of necklaces. "Three for each of us."

"I wish I had time to discuss my plan in detail," I say as Tessa pa.s.ses around our meager protection.

"Kill him before he kills us?" Maggie asks.

I shake my head, my need for vengeance suddenly broiling. "No, I want him alive . . . and in pain. Basically, we need to restrain him. Then you guys need to form a pentagram around him and tap into the spell I cast to make it stronger."

Kat frowns. "Do Gwen and I know how to do that?"

"You'll know," all the Crafts say at the same time. Tessa places the last of the charms over Kat's head. "It's intrinsic. You will feel Jo's energy and power-all you have to do is match it."

Kat and Gwen nod.

Taking a deep breath, I look out the window again. He's standing inside the gate, smiling as if he knows what we're planning, as if it's futile, as if he's already won. Ugh, so that's where Levi got all that ego. Before I head for the door, I whisper in Nana's ear, "Take it all the second you can."

Her eyes go wide. "Okay."

I turn to my family, my friends, their eyes set with determination. My hand automatically goes to Mom's pendant, and I hold my head up high. No matter what happens, she would be proud of me for doing all I can. She would have expected nothing less. "For Carmina."

"For Carmina," everyone says.

And Stacia. I don't say it out loud, but I ache for Levi's mother. I'm grateful for what she tried to do for us. She deserves to be remembered and avenged as well.

I head for the door, footsteps clomping behind me like a death march. As I unlock the dead bolt, the house of ivy's black door seems more fitting than ever. Its creaking sounds more like a growl today, like it, too, despises the suffocating darkness this monster brought with him.

Everything is drenched in shadow, and not because it's almost night. His aura has transformed our entire yard-the gra.s.s, the trees, the ivy, and even the house-into inky gloom. We spread out, surrounding him without a word. He doesn't move, all the time his eyes trained on me.

But then he startles, his gaze flicking between Gwen and Kat. His laugh is quiet, but the insanity still comes through. "Josephine, you sweetheart. You didn't have to make me more treats."

I bristle at his voice, too gentle to be anything but deadly.

"You wish," Gwen says. Her magic is surprisingly powerful already, and her anger makes the air sizzle with electricity.

He takes a step toward me, and my fingers tighten around the dagger. His eyes are beyond wild, as if I'm looking into the depths of magic itself. "You are the spitting image of your mother, you know. Except you might be prettier."

Prudence's anger flares. "Why you-"

I hold up my hand. His eyes scare the h.e.l.l out of me, but I force myself to look right into them. I will not give him the pleasure of seeing my fear.

"So quiet." He smirks. "You don't strike me as the silent type."

"You don't deserve words." My voice is flat, and my palms are full of magic. I point the dagger at him and release everything I have.

My lightning is red as it crackles through the shadows, magnified in strength and purity by the lion jaw. He holds out his hands, and a barrier blocks my spell. His grin is clearly unhinged, and I can tell he enjoys this though he struggles to fight it off. I breathe in more magic, letting it flow and flow. Maybe he can fight me off, but he has to use up magic to do it. That's just as good a result.

Gwen and Kat stay at my side, obviously sh.e.l.l-shocked, but I can tell they're trying to help with my spell. It could be so much stronger, but I'm proud they're doing as well as they are, being witches for a whole five minutes or so.