After the Summerland (The Witches of Spring Hill Book 1) (30 page)

As they step outside
thunder cracks nearby and a bolt of lightning brightens the dark sky. The
leaves that were blowing around earlier seem to settle as Chloe makes her way
down the path through the garden, toward the clearing.

Rowan follows behind
her sister, watching as the leaves surrender to her sister’s will. It is
obvious to Rowan that Chloe is somehow manipulating the Earth element, by
scattering the leaves. It feels as though she is sending her another message. When
Rowan returned Grandpa Marcus’s books to the collection, Rowan found one of the
grimoires open and took it as a sign that she was meant to read it. Rowan
thought it was odd that Chloe insisted on sending
her
to return the two books Grandpa Marcus had, but when she saw
the open book she knew her sister was sending her an unspoken message.

Rowan wishes she could
understand what is going on, especially after what she read in the grimoire.
She is certain her sister is trying to communicate something important, but
she’s not sure what. Rowan knows she just needs to trust Chloe — she is the one
having the visions. She looks over at Kaiden who is looking anxiously around
the yard. She knows he is concerned about Brianna, but the way he is looking
around is making her nervous. “Kaiden, what are you looking for?” she finally
asks.

“Selene is coming,” he
replies without taking his eyes from the surrounding woods. “I can feel the
same energy I felt at their house. She’s somewhere nearby and she’s not alone.”

Rowan looks through the
trees, but can only see the movement of the leaves as they dance in the wind.
Rowan wishes Chloe could find a way to make those leaves stop like she did on
the path. It would certainly make it easier to spot someone creeping through
the woods.

When they arrive at the
clearing, Xavier, Brianna, and Cian are standing just outside, waiting for
everyone before entering. “Thank God, you’re here. She’s coming,” Xavier says.

Chloe and Cian walk
into the clearing first, using their abilities to control the power within the
circle. Brianna walks in carefully and unable to focus on anything but the pain
in her arms, she sits down on the bench farthest from the fireplace. Since she
was burned, Brianna hasn’t been able to read anyone’s mind. She is terrified
she’s lost her abilities for good, and hopes that whatever is going to happen
here tonight will bring her abilities back. Kaiden walks toward the fireplace
and waits for everyone to enter before lighting the fire. He wishes he could do
more than just light a fire, especially since he doesn’t know how that will
help them tonight.

Xavier steps in and
immediately feels his power of clarity magnify. He sees the plan and realizes
Chloe sent the three of them to the clearing first to draw Selene toward their
energy, which is already familiar to her. She would have no way of knowing they
all weren’t together — she would never suspect they would separate this late in
the game. Chloe is hoping to take Selene by surprise by controlling the energy
in the circle so it is just enough to draw her, and then when she arrives they
will unleash the extent of their abilities. She will have no trouble finding
them, but has no idea how strong the six of them are together.

Just before Rowan steps
into the clearing, she looks up to the sky and the rain begins to fall. Once
inside, she looks up again, expecting to feel the rain on her face, but instead
the drops barely penetrate through the boughs above. Every once in awhile Rowan
sees a raindrop fall, then hears the sizzling of the drop on the warm stones.
She looks around to see if anyone else notices, but it seems she is the only
one. She grins and is thankful that more of her abilities are finally manifesting.

Liam and Marcus are
completely unprepared for the power within the clearing. The jolt from the
circle feels like an electric shock starting at the feet, fanning out
throughout the body, touching every nerve until it escapes through the tops of
their heads. For the second time that day, Marcus’s knees are weak and he
realizes he is afraid, a feeling that was unfamiliar to him before today.
Having spent a lot of time around witches, he doesn’t understand why today is
so different. Reading his father and grandfather’s journal has affected him and
the energy he feels coursing through his veins isn’t helping. He can’t deny that
some of the fear he is feeling is likely left over from the confrontation with
Selene earlier. Even with the thunder, lightning, and rain overhead he can feel
the impending storm bearing down on them.

Once everyone is inside
the clearing, a gentle breeze clears the air. Chloe sets up the altar while
Kaiden lights the fireplace and the candles that Chloe placed around the
circle. Rowan pulls out the spell book from the bag that her sister keeps with
her and sets it carefully on the rock ledge.

As Rowan sets the book
down, the pages blow open to a spell for absorbing a witch’s power. Rowan looks
to see if anyone has noticed and when she sees everyone busy around her, she
reads the words carefully, recognizing them on her tongue. She looks up to find
Xavier watching her; she smiles quickly, closes the book and steps away from
the altar, hoping he didn’t see what she was reading.

Once everything has
been set up, Chloe says, “I think we should start by drawing the protection
spell around us and in the circle and then we will follow with a healing spell
for Brianna.” Before Chloe draws the circle, she walks toward Liam and Marcus who
are standing just on the inside of the clearing, like two guardian lion statues.
Chloe hands them both an amulet from the altar box and asks them to wear them
close to their hearts. Liam feels as if he has aged ten years when he sees the
power in his sweet Chloe’s face.

Chloe casts the circle,
calling to the elements and the spirits of the land. She begins the protection
spell, only to stop when she feels a dark energy invade her mind. Chloe can feel
dark fingers probing, searching for the weak spot that can be used against her
to take over the circle, to take over the spell. Now that she knows that Selene
is close enough for her magic to reach them, she throws a shield around herself
and everyone else in the circle to protect them. The wind whips harder above and
the tree branches overhead gape open, allowing the wind and rain to enter into
the clearing. A large raindrop falls directly onto one of the candles,
extinguishing the flame.

“Kaiden!” Chloe calls,
nodding toward the candle, hoping that he can sense her urgency.

Kaiden focuses his
energy on the candle and within moments it is burning as bright as the others.
“She’s here, isn’t she?” Kaiden yells over the wind, looking at his sisters and
Brianna, ready to do anything to protect them.

Before anyone can respond,
Selene walks through the entrance of the clearing, stopping just on the other
side of the circle that Chloe cast. She looks at everyone within the circle and
is surprised that Liam and Marcus would be inside the circle while they are
casting spells. She sees the amulets hanging around their necks and for the
second time today, she is surprised at what these inexperienced witches have
already learned. She felt their energy earlier, and used it to find them. She
knows her power is much stronger than any of theirs, especially with the open
gate to the dark magic. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she took a life on this
land today… feeding the hungry spirits writhing on the other side of the
gate.

Selene closes her eyes
and raises her arms to summon the power of the spirits. She can feel their
souls are restless, and although this land and these spirits are not used to
such dark magic, they become excited at the prospect of her power. She focuses
her energy toward the circle, expecting that none of them could cast a circle strong
enough to keep her out. She feels the spirits she released coursing through
her, moving toward her power, using her just as she uses them to manipulate the
world around her.

Her body convulses as
one spirit from the land fights against her and the dark spirits she is
attempting to unleash. Immediately she recognizes the spirit of Peter Alexander
— the most recent life she herself gave to the land, preventing her from
breaking the circle. She lets out an ear-piercing scream and casts a spell to
quiet the spirits. Frustrated, she realizes she will have to use her magic
alone, without the help of the spirits behind the gate.

She smiles as she looks
around the circle and realizes that although their combined magic is more
powerful than she anticipated, it is not powerful enough to hold against her
when she summons all of her strength. To ensure she can break it, she decides
to take the power of one of them standing within the circle,
certain they don’t know how to block themselves from her.

She searches the minds
around the circle for the weak link and her eyes fall on Rowan Alexander — the
one whose abilities have not yet manifested. Excellent! She can sense the
desire, the yearning, and the sadness in her. She smiles at Rowan and prepares
to cast her spell to steal her energy, when Rowan smirks back at her. Suddenly
Rowan’s eyes flare and Selene sees the bright white pentagrams glowing in her
eyes. Selene gasps as she realizes that the little witch tricked her. She isn’t
the weakest link; somehow she has become the strongest.

Drawing off the energy
pouring from Rowan, she attempts to use the power in Rowan’s eyes to draw the
elements to break the circle. She summons the wind, rain, thunder, and finally,
lightning. She can physically see the magic around her as it bends the elements
and gives her the power that she needs. The lightning is just within reach when
she feels a blast of power slam against her, throwing her against the wall of
the clearing.

Recovering quickly, she
catches her breath and looks around the circle, searching for the source of the
power. She is not at all surprised when she sees it was Xavier who threw her
against the wall; she knew he was powerful, which is why she wanted him on her
side. It appears that all the work she did to bind him to dark magic has been
replaced with something lighter. Love, she thinks. He has fallen for the
red-headed
witch.

She smiles, knowing
what he is in for now that she has seen the glowing pentagram in Rowan’s eyes. She
shakes away the discomfort and raises her hands toward the sky again. She chants,
calling to the elements — Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth. She waits for the
explosion of lightning to strike the clearing, breaking the shield and the
circle so that she can cast her own circle with everyone inside. She is already
preparing herself for the spell to absorb all of their energies, giving her
even more power than she anticipated, when suddenly, she hears familiar words
being spoken.

She looks inside the
circle, her eyes going again to Rowan, whose green eyes are still glowing with the
burning white pentagrams. She is chanting the spell to absorb a witch’s power. She
laughs at Rowan and holds out her amulet, “Your spell is useless while I’m wearing
my protection charm. It’s much stronger than a rosemary sprig,” she mocks.

Rowan looks toward
Kaiden, who lifts his hand and lights the cord aflame. Selene rips the burning
necklace from her neck, tossing it to the ground and watches in shock, as it
becomes ash. “NO!!” Selene screams, stumbling as she feels the energy within
her draining away. Before she can move, the lightning she summoned crashes into
the Earth at her feet, sending her sprawling uncontrollably toward the sharp
contours of the manmade fireplace.

Rowan continues absorbing
Selene’s abilities, drawing out her power, taking her abilities for her own.

When the lightning
struck the Earth at Selene’s feet, everyone watched as she was thrown toward
the sharpest rock inside the circle. Her skull cracked the moment it hit the
stone, blood spilling and seeping into the ground. The Earth quaked and
trembled and a small chasm opened in the ground. The blood from Selene’s skull dripped
into the crack, adding more power to the already sacred land.

Rowan continues her chant,
with the fire burning in her eyes until the blood stops running. Just as she
comes back to herself, the hole in the ground widens and Selene’s body drops
down into the crevice. Everyone watches in amazement as the Earth closes back
up, leaving a black scar in the rock. The green moss soaked in blood is burnt black
and the stone where the lightning struck has a jagged white scar.

Suddenly sunlight shines from above. Chloe
looks at her sister, realizing that it was Rowan who was controlling the storm
all along and not Selene. Rowan let Selene believe that it was
her
, which was why when Selene called the lightning, it
didn’t strike immediately. Chloe looks up and sees that the lightning burned
away many of the branches of the trees surrounding the clearing. Bright sunlight
and a soft breeze fill the circle, removing the last of the darkness and cleansing
the air of the smell of Selene’s blood.

Chloe closes the circle
and looks around at the amazed faces looking back at her, knowing hers looks
the same. Cian rushes over and embraces her. Even though they both knew they
would survive a confrontation with Selene, they had no way of knowing if
everyone else would. Cian leans in and kisses her. This is the kiss that marks
the beginning, the true beginning of their lives together. With Selene out of
the picture, they know that nothing will come between them now.

Silent tears course
down Brianna’s face. Kaiden goes to her and is surprised when he sees that her
arms are no longer bandaged. “What happened to your arms?” he asks. She wipes
her eyes and looks down at her arms. It dawns on her that the burns were caused
by a spell that was cast inside Selene’s circle. She explains, “No one could
heal me because the burns were not just physical; they were supernatural, and
the only way to heal them was to break the spell. Once Selene died, all of the
spells she cast were broken.”