When I woke, white fog hung heavy outside the pane of glass opposite my bed.
“You’re awake.” Janine replaced the warm cloth on my forehead with a cool one.
“Did she get the fifth tether out?” I strained to lift my arm, but it was dead weight beyond my shoulder.
“Yes.”
“Does everyone hate me?” I glanced around the room.
“Tyler exhausted himself practicing magic. Grady sulked the whole night. Everyone is sleeping now.” A yawn escaped her lips as she crossed the space to the sink and filled the bowl with water.
“Were you up all night?”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Thank you.” I pushed up on my elbows. “I probably would’ve been fine.”
“Grady told me about your time in the castle with Camille. She would have stayed with you. I don’t want to let her down.” A tear ran down her cheek, and she swiped it away.
Tired from the small strain of bearing the weight of my torso, I reclined back to the cot. “I am going to do everything I can to get her out of there as soon as I get this thing off me.”
“I know you will.” She sat on the stool in front of me.
I looked at the ceiling. “So, I’m guessing Grady lost his parents before they could train him?”
She turned to face me. “The story he always told was that they were attacked by burglars in their home.”
“I had no idea my parents were witches.” Grady’s voice came from the doorway. “I’d never seen them practice magic. I was fourteen when they came to our house.”
Janine spun to face him. “Who came?”
“Vampires.” His mouth formed a sneer. Seeing his face contort as he said the word, I was glad I’d kept my secret to myself.
“Vampires? When was this?” Janine’s eyes filled with tears.
“France, the middle ages, I’m not sure exactly what year. Pagans were being burned alive, and the vampires blamed the witches for exposing them.”
“How did vampires know you were witches?”
“We smell different.” Grady passed in front of her and sat at the table.
“When were you going to tell me you were seven hundred years old?”
Hating witnessing the private conversation, I closed my eyes, faking falling back into a slumber.
Grady continued the story in whispers to Janine. Live had been the last word Grady’s father had spoken. Grief and rage awakened Grady’s powers. “I thought I killed the vampires who attacked my parents. Later I learned I’d only stunned them, and they’d probably healed. I searched the countryside till I found witches to take me in. The family trained me, and I joined their coven. I didn’t think I’d ever fall in love, marry. I didn’t want children, till I met you.”
“You could’ve told me,” Janine said. I heard her swing around on the stool and stand. I imagined her reaching out to touch him.
I heard shuffled steps on the floor and a chair scrape across the wood, and thought Janine must be sitting beside Grady. He cleared his throat. “I thought Camille and Tyler would be safe. That they could live normal lives. I guess destiny found them.”
More chair legs grazed the floor. “Camille wants to embrace who she is. She chose to go to Sardinia.”
“Young people tend to believe they’re invincible. That nothing will happen to them. Michael’s coven is dangerous. She has no idea what she’s gotten herself into.”
“Why would you say such a thing?” Janine’s voice rose an octave. “I’m barely keeping my head above water.”
“Shh.” I imagined Grady grabbing her arm. “You said you wanted to know,” he whispered.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. “Wanted to know what?” Tyler’s voice floated down from above.
“Shh.” Janine shushed him. “Jude is sleeping.”
Tyler passed my cot, and I heard him take a seat. “Like I care about Jude.”
“Jude rescued your sister and me,” Grady said.
“But she’s still there.”
“Jude will do anything to get Camille out.” Grady talked in whispers, reviewing everything his research had uncovered. The witches believed the sword would unbind them from the curse of not being able to settle for more than a few years. They also believed their souls would be freed from eternal purgatory. But the sword held power that could be wielded by whoever possessed it. He could only guess at what Michael’s coven would use it for.
“They practice dark magic. As you can tell.” I imagined Grady motioned to me.
“What about the vampires. What do they think the prophecy will free them from? Aren’t they immortal already?” Tyler asked.
“Vampires aren’t immortal. They evolved like humans did. They are fast, strong, and heal quickly. Their lifespans tend to be between six hundred and nine hundred years. If Biblical history is to be believed, they don’t have souls. This life is all they have.”
Even though I’d read in Camille’s account of her visions that vampires were soulless creatures, hearing it out loud felt different. I wondered if a half-vampire, half-human creature like my mom had a soul. Was she so damaged because she lacked a spirit?
“So, vampires want to be granted souls?” Janine asked.
“Or be given immortality.” Tyler’s voice took on a hard tone. Perhaps Grady had already told Tyler about his parents, or maybe he’d overheard earlier.
“That is why there’s a trinity. The three beings must agree. They decide for all the races. It has never been achieved. The children of light have never been united. They are born only at the turn of a millenia on the summer solstice.”
“I have a solstice birthday too. Am I related to this?” Tyler asked.
“Perhaps.” The sound of wood sliding across the floor burned my eardrums. “You’ll know when you meet them.”
“Meet who?’
“The children of light, Alena and Hunter,” Grady replied. “I’m guessing Jude felt drawn to Camille immediately. He’s a herald, a protector of the trinity. You could be too.” I heard the door to the refrigerator open and close. “I’ve made my decision. I will fight with Jude and the trinity.”
Another chair’s legs grazed the floor. “Was there ever a question?” Tyler asked.
“Many years ago, I pledged to only use my magic for healing purposes. It’s not simple to choose to go against something you’ve practiced for six hundred years.”
It sounded like they’d begun to eat. I needed a restroom break but didn’t want them to think I’d been eavesdropping on their conversation, so I waited a couple of minutes to move.
“You’re awake. You should get something to eat.” Grady crossed to the stove.
“I’m going to nap.” Janine rose and started for the stairs.
“I’ll rouse Helene. I’m getting stir crazy holed up in this house.” Tyler jogged down the hall.
I wondered if Helene might be listening and realized it was too late if she had. Perhaps I’d pay her an extra couple of years in return for assurance of her silence. Maybe I’d require her to join our group, or… Picturing Camille’s face, I stopped the train of thought.
Every cell in my body ached, but I gathered my strength to get to the bathroom and to the table. My body required more energy than it ever had before, but Grady and Tyler had gone out each day for food. I’d always needed more calories than others. It was good to be able to attribute my anomalies to something, even if it were being part vampire. I did a mental eye roll at my thought process. I hadn’t had time to internalize and embrace my vampire nature. Maybe meeting other vampires would help with that.
Janine attributed the increased body temperature to the effects of the de-branding process. If Helene suspected my heritage, she didn’t let on. I hoped I could keep my secret until we rescued Camille. I didn’t want Grady’s and Tyler’s animosity towards vampires to get in the way.
“You’re sitting. Not sure I’m doing my job right.” Helene’s raspy voice traveled to my ears.
“I’ll be laid out soon enough.” I forced a smile.
“Eat up.” She pointed to the plate Grady set in front of me. “You’re going to need your strength.”
After my meal, I stretched out on the cot again, hating the view of the gray sky thorough the small window.
“We’re getting provisions,” Grady called from the doorway as he and Tyler slipped on their coats.
Helene laid her palms on my chest, and a warming sensation grew on my skin where she touched me.
“What are you doing?” Panicked, I scanned my glowing chest.
“Giving you back your years.”
“What? No. Why?” I swiped her hands away. “You have to finish, I’ve got to get out of this country.”
“I know who you are.”
Snatching a blade from my waistband, I held it to her neck. “I’ll pay you double to finish what you started and stay silent.”
“Unless you trust me, there is only one way to assure my silence.”
“I am not a murderer.”
“But you will stop at nothing to rescue your princess.”
“I’m her herald.”
She chuckled. “And you love her.”
“So.”
“You would kill for her.”
“She wouldn’t want that.” I ran through options that didn’t involve killing the witch in front of me.
“It’s a good thing you’re part—”
I pressed the blade to her skin. “Do not say it.”
Her eyes darted to the ceiling. “She is sleeping.”
“I don’t care.”
“It will serve you well. Love can make one do stupid things. But you can rise above those feelings, detach from them.”
I snapped the blade shut. “It doesn’t feel like that. I hated leaving her there.”
“But you couldn’t save her alone.”
“No, I couldn’t.” I let my head fall to the pillow.
“I believe you are who you say you are. I want to aid you in your mission.”
Laying the blade on the cot beside me, I held my arm out to her. “I have no option but to trust you.”
“Then trust me.”
The problem of how to ensure Helene didn’t share our secret without killing her kept me distracted from the pain. After I’d come up with a work-around to test, I started plotting scenarios for Camille’s rescue.
I felt a weight on my shoulder. “Where did you go?” Helene’s voice entered my consciousness.
My eyes darted to the window to assess the time. It was dark out, and I guessed the whole day had passed. “Trying to figure out a way around killing you?”
“That’s comforting. We’re done for the day.” She patted my arm. “I’m going to get some rest.” She closed her toolbox and used the chair back to pull herself to a standing position. Shuffling to the door, she bounced back as if she’d hit a wall as she tried to cross through the doorway.
Regaining her composure, she turned to face me. “Barrier spell, smart. So, you’re going to lock me in this house with no one to talk to until you rescue Camille?”
“I haven’t figured that part out yet.” I thought the words for the incantation to lift the barrier. “You can go now.”
“Well, thank you. We’ll start again in two hours.” She nodded and stepped into the hall.
Janine had been in and out, but I hadn’t seen Grady or Tyler except for the midday meal. I liked it better when they were training in the same room with me. Keeping tabs on Tyler’s progress ranked high on my list of things to do. There was no way I would wait four weeks for him to go through the process of becoming a full witch to rescue Camille. I wanted him to have some fighting skills, and I guessed Grady’s might be rusty. With my background in martial arts and Miguel’s training, I figured I was the best person for the job. Of course, after what I’d pulled the previous night, I didn’t think Grady trusted me with Tyler. But if he wasn’t a herald, I didn’t plan on letting him be part of the rescue team anyway. I wondered if Tyler would lie, fake some connection with Alena and Hunter, to be included. It would be something to be wary of.
Realizing my old habits of trusting no one were seeping back into my psyche didn’t help alleviate the pit of wariness in my stomach. I’d shed my shell for Camille, but we were at war. It was smart to question everything and everyone. That train of thought brought me back to the problem with Helene, and I wondered if Grady would let me lock her in the house. His daughter’s life was at stake, and I hoped that idea would be motivation enough for him to make some tough decisions.
As I sat watching them move around the kitchen preparing our evening meal, I broached the subject.
Grady let his fork drop to his plate. “Well, it’s good to hear you weren’t satisfied with the murder option.”
“What? After last night, you think I’m some cruel sociopath?”
“It had me rethinking you, yes.”
“Stop.” Janine pointed at Grady. “Camille said Jude was a friend. She doesn’t give friendship easily. You need to trust your daughter’s instincts.”
“He could be lying to us about being a herald.” Tyler pointed his fork at me.
“Having knowledge of Camille’s visions, do you think I would have gone to Sardinia if I didn’t care for her?” I shook my head, wondering what kind of demented person he thought me to be.
Grady picked up his knife and stabbed a bite of meat. “They made you a full witch. No other coven would have granted you that in four weeks.”
“I went to Iceland to find a cure for schizophrenia, and I found out I’m a witch. Forgive me if things are a little complicated.”
“Why didn’t today knock you out like the other days?” Tyler asked.
“Too much to think about.”
“Like how not to murder Helene?” Grady’s eyebrows shot up.
In the end, he conceded that my boundary spell idea was the best and most humane. He would arrange for a box of food to be dropped off for her each day.
“If you die, the seal will be broken though,” Grady pointed out.
“Who’s thinking morbid now?”
“I’m just pointing it out.”
“Can we double spell it?” Tyler asked.
“That would give us a fail safe.” Grady knocked his knuckles on the table.
Janine took a plate to Helene, and we ate our food in silence. Hearing her cane, Tyler set his plate in the sink and went to help her.
“You’re not resting enough.” Helene pointed a crooked finger at me as she took up her post beside my cot.
“I feel okay.” I stood and shook out my arms and legs, nervous about the last few tethers.
“The adrenaline’s got you on a high. You’re going to crash hard.” Helene sat down beside the cot and unpacked her tools.
“We’ll see.” I made my way to the restroom and then resumed my position in front of her.
As she started the process again, I realized she’d been right. Pain shot through my arm as if someone were ripping it from the socket. I needed a distraction, somewhere to go while my body writhed. I started making a mental list of all the places Camille and I would travel once our nightmare was over: Australia, New Zealand, China, Hawaii, the Amazon, anywhere sunny and warm.
A snake tightened around my chest, threatening to crush me. I bolted upright.
“You have to lie still,” Helene yelled.
I blinked to see the witch and Janine beside me. “Sorry, I was dreaming. Is it done?”
“Almost. Here.” Janine handed me a small rag. “Helene says you may want to bite on this. She needs you to be still.”
Janine placed the rag in my mouth, and I bit down hard. Helene started chanting, and fear gripped my mind. She hadn’t used incantations before. Was something wrong? Searing pains shot through my arm, and a buzzing sound rose in my head. When I thought I couldn’t go on, was about to cry out for her to stop, the room fell silent. Sweat poured from my skin, and a chill swept over me. Gripping the quilt, I curled up in a ball, trying to warm myself.
“He’s too weak. I won’t do another until tonight.” Helene’s voice was barely a whisper.
I heard shuffling beside me and opened my eyes to see that day had come. “No, there are only three more. You must keep going.” My teeth chattered as I spoke.
Helene shook her head. “So stubborn. I must rest too. We’ll reassess when I wake.”
When I woke, the four of them were eating at the table, and I jumped up, thinking I’d slept all day. “What time is it?”
“Noon. I’ll fix you a plate.” Janine moved to get up.
“No, finish yours first. My stomach feels a little woozy.” I wished I had somewhere private to be alone with my pain. There was no way I’d make it up the stairs to the bedroom, and I wasn’t going to ask for help.
That day passed along with the night and the next day. It took longer and longer to pull the threads from my body, and I felt the agony would never end. Finally, there was only one left. The final mark was the largest and consisted of the letter M inscribed in the center.
I heard Helene’s voice through my haze of exhaustion. “He’s not ready.”
Lifting my head from the pillow, I opened my mouth to speak. My throat was dry, and the words cracked as I spoke. “Get me a pencil and paper.”
Janine rustled through the drawers and found a pen and paper. I scribbled ingredients for the tea Maria had us drink each day at the compound. The essential oils had to be mixed with honey so they would dissolve in the liquid, and I added that ingredient to the list.
“Have Grady get this. It’ll strengthen me.”
Janine must have been as anxious to get past the hurdle of my brand, because she ran up the stairs to where Grady and Tyler were training.
“You rest.” Helene patted my arm and crossed to sit at the table.
I slipped back into sleep and woke to the familiar smell of the energizing tea.
“Perhaps if he had something for the pain.” Janine wrung her hands as she sat across from me.
“The mind and body must be clear. If his faculties are compromised, the tether will sense weakness and dig in.”
The tea gave me a little boost, and I hobbled to the restroom and back. “I’m ready.”
Helene shuffled to my side, pulling the last mark’s anchor from her box. The jolt of energy when it touched my wrist shot through me. It ran through my body as if someone had shocked me with an electric wand. Still, I gritted my teeth. She began the process of pulling the glowing line from my skin inch by inch. A cold mass settled in my chest, and tremors racked my body. I clenched the edge of the bed to stay still. Barely aware of time passing, I fought losing consciousness. Still, the haze overtook me, and I woke to a dark, quiet room.
I could see a glow reflecting off the clouds as if dawn neared. Lifting my arm, I realized a spool holding the tether rested on the last mark. The T-shaped metal tool held the tether in place, locking it to the spindle. Helene had stopped. Fear gripped my mind. Was there a problem? Would the final tether not come out? For the first time since she’d pulled the first tether from my arm, I doubted Helene’s strength and ability. Anger shot through me, and I yelled for Grady. Pushing myself to a sitting position, I shouted until I heard noises above my head.
Grady entered the kitchen. “For goodness sakes. Can’t anyone rest around here?”
“Can’t anyone do their job?” I lifted my arm.
“Helene was worried about the toll on your body. She was weakened too.”
“And what were you doing?”
“Everyone’s tired.”
“What were you doing?” I demanded again.
“Training Tyler.”
“Tyler can be trained after this is over. You need to lend your energy to Helene. We are sitting ducks here. The faster we get this finished, the sooner we can get help in rescuing Camille. Have you forgotten that your daughter is being held prisoner by an evil coven of witches?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten.” Grady hung his head.
“Is there a question as to whether Helene can finish this?”
“I can lend her my strength. I’ll go get her.”
“No need.” Helene’s voice traveled down the hall.
Wondering if Grady’s guilt from having shirked his responsibilities to his children distracted him from staying on task, I rested my head on the pillow.
“You best get Tyler too,” Helene said to Grady as she entered the room.
I heard him take the stairs, two at a time, and rap on a door. Within a few minutes, a groggy Tyler followed Grady into the kitchen.
“We can be on a plane by nightfall if we get this finished.” I shook my free arm and legs to get some adrenaline pumping through my body.
“Okay, lie still, son,” Helene instructed. “I need both of you—” she spun to look at Grady and Tyler “—to put a hand on each of my shoulders.” Scooting chairs toward her, the men obeyed. Her eyes pierced mine. “Jude, I need you to picture prying the tether’s end from your soul.”
“My soul?” I’d never pictured my soul, and it seemed like an ambiguous request. “Does the heart muscle work?”
“Wherever you’ve felt the tug, concentrate on that spot.”
I closed my eyes and tried to visualize. The thought of the tether’s tendrils around my beating heart made me sick. Shedding the image, I focused on the tether loosening its grip, much like I used mind control to alter the waiter’s or store clerk’s actions earlier in the week. Had it only been a week since I’d escaped from the compound? Not even, six days?
“Is it working?” I asked opening one eye to look at Helene.
“I’m having a hard time getting it moving.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s like it’s stuck.”
“Could someone be fighting you? Can they sense he’s trying to remove the brand?” Grady asked.
My mind raced. Could we win against the strength of Michael’s coven? “We’ve got to finish this fast. The quicker we can exert power, the less resources they’ll have devoted to blocking us.”
“He’s right,” Helene told them. “Channel all your energy to me.” She turned back to me. “You’ve got to push with all your might.”
I pictured Camille’s face and focused every bit of power on my heart. As I did, I felt the tendril blocking my energy. I doubled my efforts, but it felt like a brick wall in my chest.
“I can feel it. It’s like a vice around my heart.”
“Form a circle, one arm on me and one on Jude,” Helene said to Grady and Tyler.
Grady’s hand gripped my ankle, and Tyler put his on my shoulder. I refocused on the barrier in my rib cage and pictured the string wrapped around my heart. My heart rate increased, and I imagined the muscle pushing against the bindings. I felt the tether loosening, but a sharp pain shot up to my left shoulder and down to my left hand. The room grew dim, and my ears started ringing.
“Janine!” Grady yelled. “Janine.”
I saw a body, a silhouette of a human form, hands pressed to my chest depressing my sternum and releasing it.
“This is not worth it. You have to stop.” Janine’s words floated to my ears. “Just leave the last one in. We’ll find another way to get Camille out. Has anyone considered if there’s another way?”
No, they couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop fighting. We were almost there. The tether wouldn’t be fighting so hard if we weren’t close. Images started shooting through my thoughts: Mom, Dad, Nan, Pop, Camille.
“We’re losing him.” Janine stopped compressing my chest.
No, I thought again. Blocking out the vision of Camille’s form bobbing in the ocean, I put all my energy into one huge ball. Bam, I sent a jolt through my nervous system. My body went rigid, and a thump emitted from my chest. I’d done it. I was alive. Stop, focus, I told myself. Find the tether, and get it out.
Opening my eyes, I found Helene’s face. Lost in her chant, her eyes were clenched shut.
“Helene?”
Her eyes flew open. “Sweet Mother Earth, you must have nine lives.”
“Can we cut the tether?” Janine asked.
“No, it has to be extracted. There can’t be any pieces left behind.” Helene frowned as her eyes landed on me.
I closed my eyes and listened to my heartbeat. Picturing the blue glow of the tendril, I imagined my strong hands gripping it. “Pull the tether, Helene.”
“It will break,” she insisted.
“Do it now!” I poured all my might into ripping the strand from my heart muscle.