CHAPTER 21

 

 

It had taken a long time to wind their way out of the cavern and down the mountainside. They walked through the woods with eyes kept forward and unease tickling the backs of their necks. The two eldest sisters had no reckoning of where they were or where they were headed.

Karsia lifted her head and sniffed the air, tantalized by the underlying layer of rot beneath it all. The scents of darkness and decay were a feast for her senses.

Astix tripped over some underbrush and fell unceremoniously into Aisanna. The two stumbled and Aisanna went down on her knees in the dirt, crying out when her broken arm slammed into the ground. She’d used the last of her big magic to help her sister. With her batteries running on empty, and no food to help ground her, she didn’t have the capability to heal herself.

“Karsia, we’re lost,” Aisanna muttered through grinding teeth.

“We’re not lost. Trust me. When you two blathering hens are ready to shut up and follow me without the fucking chatter, then maybe we’ll get where we’re going. Otherwise, stay here for all I care.”

They trailed behind her without further complaint. Eventually they came to the edge of the forest and found themselves on a lonely country road.

“Now what?” Astix said.

“This way,” Karsia told the others and kept walking.

“How do you know?” Aisanna asked.

“Life, stupid. I can smell it. Blood and sweat and humanity.”

They ignored Karsia’s unconventional response and continued their trek, finding the going a little easier on the road, even in the near-darkness. Dense hardwood began to give way to sparser saplings, interspersed with bare fields they knew would be green with the coming of spring. Soon a distant glow of light promised civilization. Karsia marched ahead of them like a general ready for battle.

“How did you know this was the way to come?” Astix wanted to know. “We were in the middle of nowhere.”

“I just did. Now, are you going to stop complaining and get down there so we can find a ride? Or do I need to leave you in the woods for the animals to eat?”

Aisanna picked up the pace. “No, we’re coming.”

Eventually, they made it to the town, a place rife with life and energy during the day but sleepy and quiet now.

“Gladstone,” Aisanna read from a sign. “We’re in Gladstone. Where the hell is that?”

“Michigan,” Karsia told them tersely.

“Michigan! How do you know?”

“Same way I knew where the town was in the first place. Don’t ask questions if you’re not prepared for the answers.”

Aisanna must have sensed she wasn’t making headway. Good, Karsia thought. It gave her some relief from their pitiful emotions. To her, they were toddlers, paddling timidly across the kiddie pool. Never diving beneath the surface. Never taking risks.

It was pitiful.

They walked on the side of the road though only a car or two passed them. Given the late hour, it was surprising to see anyone out. Ahead, the small town gleamed under rows of street lamps, quaint buildings centered around a neat downtown square.

Karsia swiveled to the left, pointing ahead to a parking lot. “This way.”

Without anywhere better to go, they followed her. She stopped beside a beat-up Chevy pickup truck with mud-splattered tires and fenders, then let her fist spring back and release, easily punching a hole through the glass of the driver’s side window.

“What the hell are you doing?” Astix hissed over the sound of broken glass.

“We need to get home. We need a vehicle.” Karsia hoisted herself up and unlocked the door from the inside. The truck was old and worn down, no need for an alarm to blare and alert the police of their involvement. The owner probably thought just locking the doors was enough. Who would steal it? “This should be easy.”

Karsia yanked open the flooring near the floorboard to reveal a tangle of wires. Selecting two, she stripped them with her teeth and touched them together. The engine started immediately.

“So, are you two going to get in or not?” Karsia slid behind the wheel and closed the door, then she reached over and unlocked the passenger side door.

“You’re really stealing this truck?” Aisanna asked, shocked. “Seriously?”

Karsia shrugged. “Have it your way.” She shifted into reverse and began to back up.

Aisanna held her hands in front of her to stop the motion. “Stop! We’re coming.”

Astix gave her a look. “She was going to leave us here.”

“Did you think she wouldn’t? Surprised the hell out of me.”

They hurried around to the other side and opened the door. The interior was worn, with duct tape holding the seat together in several places. A limp air freshener hung from the rearview mirror, though its presence made no difference. The truck stank of spilled beer, mud, and stale cigarette smoke.

Aisanna scooted over to make room for Astix, and together they pulled away, dust and smoke from the tailpipe marking their escape.

Karsia stared into the distance as though she would rather be anywhere else. Occasionally, she lifted her face to the sky and scented the air like a predator.

“Oh, yes. This is it.” She hung her arm out the broken window and slouched. “This is the good stuff.”

“I can’t believe we stole a truck,” Astix moaned. “That’s like…what do they call it…grand theft auto?” She let her head drop back to the seat.

“It’s fine,” Karsia assured them. “And don’t mention it again. I have no qualms about pulling over and leaving you on the side of the road.”

“My lips are zipped.” Astix mimed turning a key in a lock and throwing it away.

“Did we really do it?” Aisanna wondered aloud. “Did you really take care of Darkness? Is she gone?”

Karsia laughed, the sound wrong. Off and discordant. “She’s not gone, you assholes.” She clicked on the blinker and turned sharply to the left. “She’s sitting right beside you.”

 

**

 

It took several hours to make the trip back to Lake Forest. Karsia knew the way instinctively, driving the old pickup down winding backroads until the scenery began to feel familiar.

A tense, heavy silence filled the air between them. Aisanna stole glances at her sister, the physical presence of their enemy sitting in the driver’s seat, watching the play of light on the cold planes of her face.

There was something alien lurking beneath those familiar eyes, a presence beneath the skin.

She refrained from asking any more questions, or offering quasi-answers they all knew were nothing but empty words. Something happened back in the cavern, something none of them had expected. The course in front of them, leading up to the eclipse, had been altered in some fundamental way. Now, instead of finding a way to help their brother escape the Claddium, finding a way to locate the Harbinger witch, finding a way to stop Darkness, they were lost. And two Cavaldi siblings down.

Karsia had sacrificed herself. If Aisanna weren’t so afraid of the consequences, she would strangle the girl. It was supposed to be her, she mused, her brow furrowed and her brain chewing away at this new wrinkle. But instead of finding a bright point to renew their hope, she could only fit things together into this bleak picture.

They were nearing home. Houses gave way to mansions, the expanses between their gated properties much larger as a reflection of affluence.

Aisanna let out the breath she hadn’t been aware of holding. Home equaled safety, even with the wolf still knocking at the back door. They were alive, and that was what mattered. So what if Karsia stole a vehicle and kept her desire to kill them on a tight leash?

“I hope you two are happy,” Karsia drawled, sneering at the houses, at the cozy glow coming from inside as dawn approached. “You’re home now. I couldn’t get you back to the cabin because of the goddamn wards.” She pulled the stolen truck into the drive, tires spinning purposely on loose gravel, then came to an abrupt stop in front. She let the engine stall with a final death chug. “Unless you want the Claddium here, I suggest you hurry your asses up and get inside quickly.”

“Thank you for getting us here in one piece.” Aisanna lifted her hand with the intention of patting her sister’s shoulder, but stopped a hairsbreadth away and let it drop.

“You should thank me,” Karsia said, her normally high, sweet voice dropping several octaves. “There were many other options. Places to go, people calling out to me. I shouldn’t be here.”

She stared wistfully out the window with pupils devoid of color. Dark black ringed with a faint line of gold. “Home. Yeah right,” she muttered.

Astix held her tongue and vacated the stifling confines of the vehicle. Aisanna followed her slowly, working around her injured arm. Karsia stalked to the door, intending to throw it open, a scowl marring her features.

She was beaten to the punch by Varvara. The wood, steel, and glass main entrance slammed into stone when she flung it open, staring at them with overly large eyes. “Where the hell have you been? No one is answering their phone and I’ve had several calls from the damn Claddium saying you attacked two of their chair heads!” There it was. The ear-splitting soprano. “Aisanna, please tell me you didn’t send poisonous vines after Orestes Voltaire and Zelda Vuur!”

Aisanna shook her head, cradling her arm close. “I can’t tell you that, Mom. But it wasn’t my fault.”

Astix stalked past them and into the house, pausing only to give her mother a swift kiss on the cheek. “I need a drink.”

“It wasn’t your fault?” Varvara continued, staring first down the hall after one daughter, then swiveling back to the other two. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ll explain it to you later. You think you can help me with a broken arm?” Aisanna felt her stomach roil uncomfortably.

“You’ll explain it to me now, young lady. Let me see that arm. And Karsia, get inside. You’re letting the warm air out. Come on.”

Aisanna sighed as Varvara began to administer healing magic to her throbbing arm. “Darkness took over my body and forced me to summon tainted magic. I didn’t mean to do anything to hurt anyone. It wasn’t me, you have to believe that. I tried to stop it, but instead I managed to get my building destroyed and make some powerful enemies. Then we got together and decided to try to summon Darkness and use a binding spell, but…it went wrong and we ended up in the middle of some metaphysical battle in a cave in Michigan.”

She could already see the skepticism in her mother’s gaze, the single eyebrow raised in a disbelieving arch.

“So you did attack the Claddium?”

Oh boy.

Astix stomped back into the foyer and took a swig from the bottle she held. “Don’t worry, Mother. We took care of the problem. It’s gone. For now. We, ah—” She broke off on a cough. “We bought ourselves some extra time with Karsia’s soul.”

“You… What…” Varvara twitched, trying to find the right words to say and coming up short. “Karsia, what happened?”

“I can’t be here,” Karsia said abruptly, glancing around at a prison made of glass and crystal, marble and wood. “This is a bad idea. I need to leave before I hurt someone.” She turned for the door.

“Stop right there and please explain to me what is going on!” Varvara spared a look at all three girls in turn. “Tell me the truth.”

“We confronted her,” Astix began. “On her own turf.”

“Her? What her are you referring to?”

“The evil you warned us about,” Astix stated. “The one who influenced the goon who set the death runes on you.”

“Tell me everything,” Varvara demanded.

Karsia glared in her direction and stalked back toward the door. “The One Who Walks in Darkness is here.”

“Here?”

“What do you think I’m saying, woman?” Karsia slapped her chest, fist clenching. “I am Darkness. She is me. There’s no going back. When the eclipse comes, I’ll take my place as the keeper. The veil will be restored, the Harbinger will bring balance, and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it.”

Varvara turned frantically toward Astix. “No. Please, it’s a lie. Tell me it’s a lie!”

“There was a…a fight, I guess you’d say. Darkness sent a bolt of magical power intended for me. Karsia jumped in front and took the blast,” Aisanna said softly. “She sacrificed herself. For me. And now— It’s a little difficult to explain.”

Karsia reached out to grab the doorknob in her hand. Her fingers curved claw-like around the knob. “Yeah, I can’t be here. Sorry. This,” she gestured around at the four of them, “is insane. I can feel the blood in your veins, the thoughts in your heads and desires you try to hide. I know exactly what it would take to send each of you over the edge and I want to. I want to so damn bad.” She pointed to her mother, and a slim tendril of black smoke wound from her index finger. “I know how you didn’t want us. How you nearly aborted Aisanna and sank into deep depression after she was born. You blame yourself for our faults.”

“Karsia!” Aisanna gasped, horrified at the words coming out of the girl’s mouth. “How can you say that?”

“Because it’s true! Don’t you see?” Karsia threw up her hands. “How could you possibly understand? This thing is inside of me. She’s not coming after us anymore. She can’t. She’s quieted because I’m her legacy now. I’ll be dead by the eclipse.”

“I can’t accept that.” Aisanna shook her head vehemently. “We need to stick together and find a way to expel whatever’s inside you. Trust us.”

“No. You need to let me go. That’s the only way you will be safe. I’d kill you happily.” Karsia drew her shoulders back, and when she shifted into the light, Aisanna saw that she wasn’t quite human anymore.

“You can’t leave,” Astix insisted.

Karsia’s hands shook. The gemstones in her chest gleamed dully. “Do you not understand how difficult it is for me to keep my hands off of you? What’s inside of me would love to rip you to shreds, to see your blood spilled and know it was all a game.”

The other three were silent. “We can help you,” Varvara finally said, smiling weakly. “What’s the point of having magic if you can’t fix what’s broken?”

Karsia let out a derisive chuckle. “No one can help me. This is what happens when you try to be a hero. The end is coming. Accept it.”

Astix took a step toward her, keeping her posture defensive. “We will find a way to reverse this, I promise. This wasn’t your choice.”

“Yes, it was. Make no mistake about that. I chose to leap. This is what happens when you help people and choose good over…over…”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Astix warned.

“I’m leaving now. Don’t try to come after me. It won’t end well for you.” Karsia jerked the door open. A shadow clung to her, a hint of the true nature of the maliciousness dragging her soul into the depths.

“No!” Aisanna tore after her, an instant too late.

Astix held out an arm and caught Aisanna around the middle. “Let her go. We’ll find a way. I won’t give up.”

They stood in the foyer, surrounded by memories and listening to their mother’s hushed sobs.

What the hell had happened? In a matter of seconds, their luck had turned. And Aisanna lost the baby sister she’d sworn to protect. A split second was all it took for Karsia to disappear. A split second to cause a rift in their family and a whole new world of trouble.

Aisanna walked to her mother and gave her a light pat, the slightest touch of fingers on her shoulder. “Shh, calm down. It’s going to be fine.”

Varvara trembled. “You’re mistaken. It will never be fine again, my dear.” She sniffed, wiping beneath her eyes. “Karsia’s right. The end is coming.” The statement caused Varvara to shrink into herself, her breath coming in harried gasps.

Even now, with the life she knew in tatters at her feet, Aisanna’s eyes refused to tear up. “What do we do now?” she asked instead.

“I don’t know.” Astix shoved a hand through her hair and sighed. “I don’t know what to do anymore. But we’ll figure it out. We have to.”