Destiny Disrupted (8 page)

I hated that there was real evil in the world, and that I was destined to fight it. I wish I hadn’t been chosen. But this wasn’t about wishes. This was about choices. And I’d made the decision to stay and fight. With or without Trent at my side.

Late Wednesday night, after searching through my spellbooks for hours, I stumbled upon something that might actually help Trent. Instantly my pulse pounded in my ears. In my fingertips. In my eyes. My chest, too. I pulled my knees up to my chest, scattering the other books to the floor, and reread the page with trembling hands. A tingle spread throughout my body and warmed my heart.

I was going to save him!

Then I immediately called my mentor Evans and told him what I’d discovered.

“Sorry to bug you while you’re at your supernatural retreat thing,” I said. “But this is huge, so I called right away.”

“Yes, yes, I’m glad you did. I’ve heard of that Gaelic ritual, but it’s a complex spell,” he said. “And we’ll need a rare Orb of Oculus, which has the power to cleanse an impure soul. It’s a long shot, but it might work without killing the host.”

“Great! I’m on it. I’ll scry for the orb. And if I find one, how soon can we perform the ritual?”

“I’ll just need to get some magickal paraphernalia together,” he said into the phone. “We can do it when I return in a few days.”

My mouth stretched into a big, goofy grin. “This is gonna work. It has to…because I feel like we’re running out of time. Do you think this could be the key to saving Trent’s humanity?”

“Maybe…maybe not. I don’t want you to get your hopes up, Shiloh. In my experience, there are two kinds of people with
Darkness
in the world. The ones that want to be redeemed. And those that…”

“That what?”

“Become void of humanity. They can no longer respond to reason or love.” He cleared his throat. “Regardless of how this turns out, I’m extremely proud of you for staying on top of this dreadful situation.”

“Thanks. What did you want to talk to me and Ariana about?”

“Nothing I wish to discuss just yet. I’m going to search through the archives while I’m here and get all the facts straight before we discuss it.”

“So it sounds like you’re enjoying your retreat,” I said.

“Yes, there’s one every year in Yosemite. It’s a beautiful place. Very serene. There’s horseback riding and hiking and lectures about discoveries regarding the supernatural realm. It’s a great honor to be invited.”

I shook my head. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your fun.”

We hung up, and I went to my closet. I collected what I needed, then sat on my bedroom floor. To scry for the mystical item, I held a thin silver chain with an amethyst crystal attached to it over an unfolded map of Marin County. By moving it in a slow circular movement, applying a “warm or cold” method of pinpointing the location, I waited for the crystal to pull down on a spot.

Within two minutes, the gem yanked down and stuck fast to an area within Woodcrest Cemetery. An incredible sense of lightness struck me, like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I Google mapped the locale and printed the directions.

Grabbing my cell, I dialed Ariana and filled her in on the Orb of Oculus and the ritual.

“It’s the only thing I could find that will strip Trent of his evilness,” I said.

She was quiet. Usually, every conversation with Ari concerning Trent felt like a sparring match.

“Will your boyfriend go along with this?” she asked after the long pause.

“He doesn’t even need to be present. After the spell is completed, it will simply take away Trent’s darker powers.”

“How does the orb work?”

“Evans and I will perform an incantation with the orb that should purify his blood and remove all the
Darkness
taint for good.”

“What’s it look like?”

“The image sketched in the grimoire kind of looked like a crystal ball,” I said. “I scryed for the orb and one’s buried in a local graveyard. I read that using holy ground to bury something means it’s super powerful. I really think this might work!”

She yawned into the phone. “Do you want me to go with?”

“No, but thanks for offering. I can’t do my job if I have to worry about your safety. Until you get some magickal defenses of your own, it’ll be better if I do stuff like this solo,” I said. “I’ll be back in about an hour.”

“Be careful.”

“Always.”

Ending the call, I shoved the cell into my pocket. I left the house with my supplies loaded into a backpack and hopped into the Jeep. The engine wouldn’t start. I tried to get it to turn over several times without any luck. I punched the dashboard.

More demon pranks?

Pushing down pointless anger, I got out, slung one strap of the backpack over my shoulder, and walked down the incline toward the street. Full moon tonight. Slick asphalt and warm rain struck my face. Streetlamps flickered. The neighbor’s German Shepard was barking and I wished someone would muzzle that dog.

Beyond the rows of houses, the woods had grown up around the town, like an unnatural growth of ferns and redwoods as if to conceal the Sheol, or to protect it. The forest crooned at night with shrill cries and murmurs on the wind that rustled the naked branches. Leaves had turned gold and red, and the winds bit cold on my face and neck.

My boots slapped the pavement with purpose. The sidewalk was fractured, crumpling under the pressure of tree roots. Shades crept from the darkness to join me on my quest. They pawed my legs, but I kept walking. No time to stop for rubbing bellies or scratching behind ears. I had to concentrate on my mission.

The three little demons followed, bounding, snaking, and pouncing on the sidewalk.

“I’m going to dig up the Orb of Oculus,” I said. “Wanna come?”

Bakaz bumped my calf. “We follow.”

“Good,” I said. “I could use the backup for once, so don’t scamper off.”

The dog barked and barked, grating on my nerves. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket and crossed the street. The cemetery was six blocks away. Shades went with me, but didn’t growl or flatten their little ears. Just watched the shadows shifting beyond the road, within the trees. I didn’t hear anything except crickets chirping and an owl hooting. And that damn dog was still barking.

Once we got to the graveyard, I pushed open the rusty gate and entered its gloomy domain. The dilapidated cemetery had been vacant and unkempt for years. Brown grass and dying oaks covered the grounds. Winding pathways and splintered benches were illuminated by security lights. I pulled the mini-flashlight from the backpack and waved it around.

There. Twenty feet away stood the crypt. My hair still felt damp from the drizzle, and the pathway rough. Plucky weeds pushed themselves through the cracks. I hurried to the stone building, the shades loping alongside me, prancing between the tombstones. Circling the crypt, I spotted a patch of dead grass.

Bakaz took my hand. “It is here. Feel its power.”

I lightly squeezed his fingers. “Time to start digging.”

I removed the small shovel and set the flashlight on top of the backpack. The edge of the spade sunk into the soft earth and I scooped out a bunch of dirt. Kasha and Bakaz shifted nearer and dug with their paws. I glanced at Zrekam, and he winked into the shadows.

Within ten minutes, we’d dug a pretty deep hole. Finally, my shovel hit a wooden box. I lifted it and swept off the worms and soil coating the square container. Prying off the lid, I found a round globe, the size of a baseball, resting in a white satin-lined bed.

Bingo.

“We found it,” I said, standing with the box held fast in my hands.

The shades brushed the muck from their bodies. Zrekam reappeared with a plastic pink flamingo—stolen from somebody’s yard—and rubbed his cheek against my jeans while he chewed on the bird’s head. The girl demon shuddered and bumped my hip.

“Kasha,” I said, and she peered up at me. “What is it?”

She squinted over her shoulder and barked.

A vicious snarl ripped through the darkness. Heart pounding, I braced myself, my muscles tense, ready to fight. A hulking shadow, the mass of a grizzly bear, bounded toward us.

My breathing ceased. Palms sweaty, I edged backward, clutching the mystical orb. I should’ve known it would be safeguarded.

The hellhound stopped several feet from where we stood around the hole. He eyed the box and snarled. Chills erupted in every crevice of my body. My gaze skated around the graveyard, then the gate fifty yards away.

The shades lowered their heads and crouched on all fours. Threatening growls issued from their throats. Zrekam sidled closer to me.

The hellhound sniffed the air with a huge snout. Bright blue eyes blazed from the hellish animal’s enormous head. The beast resembled a mutant cross between a dog and a bear. It was one big hunk of hard muscle, with scraggly black fur and jagged teeth. Hellhounds could claw a person apart, bite off their skull, and then munch on their innards.

I backpedaled, crashing into the crypt. This was no cuddly teddy bear.

The hellhound didn’t attack, only scraped at the ground with those lethal claws. The beast stank, like wet dog combined with the coppery stench of blood.

No one breathed or blinked, as if frozen for a long moment, like a terrifying countdown sequence for a bomb already ticking from ten seconds to one.

Zrekam eased beside me. Good—he was getting ready to fight. Bakaz slithered when he moved, and glided like dense smoke merged from midnight threads, mercurial and unafraid. Kasha touched my leg, red eyes shuttered. They fed off my emotions, and gulped up some of my fear.

Now it was my turn. I faced the beast, one hand cradling the orb against my chest, and the other raised in a fist.

The hellhound lowered his muzzle and charged like a bull. The shades attacked the bigger demon, Kasha slashing at his head with her nails, and the boys sinking their incisors into the hellhound’s legs and sides. The beast howled in pain and blood dripped from his wounds. He tried to shake off the shades, but they were all sharp teeth and fatal claws. The four demons were a blur of limbs. Fur and blood sprayed the air.

When the snarling creature went down on his haunches, I moved in and kicked out as hard as I could, aiming for his snout. The beast let out a startled whine and cowered. The shades backed up, panting and bloody, and stood in front of me.

From behind us came another low growl. Claws scraped across the lawn. The second hellhound hit me before I even had a chance to fully turn. I screamed, my shoulder and head ramming into the mausoleum. My body bounced off the stone and the box tumbled from my grasp. Shooting pain jarred through my body, dropping me to the ground. I curled into a ball and waited for the hellhound to tear into my flesh.

Instead, the first hellhound whined, and took off into the night, leaving a trail of blood. I lifted my head, and the shades hovered over me protectively. The second beast grabbed the box in his mighty jaws and loped into the darkness.

“
Nooo!
Get back here you ugly mutt!” I shouted.

I looked down at Bakaz, Kasha, and Zrekam. Heads bowed, staring at their feet.

Bakaz banged his head in my stomach. “You want us to go after them?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s too dangerous and we don’t know how many other hellhounds are out there.”

Kasha rubbed my back with a sour frown. “So sorry.”

“Yeah. Me too,” I said softly.

Zrekam twitched closer. My eyes prickled with hot tears. Sitting on my knees, I beat the ground with my fists.
This wasn’t fair!
I had been so close.

Bakaz licked my cheek, his rough tongue scraping my skin. He swiped a few tears rushing from my eyes with a finger. Major waterworks. But I couldn’t stop crying.

Any hope of saving Trent had disappeared in the mouth of that beast. I had wanted so badly to help him. Trent seemed doomed to fulfill his destiny. I’d held the solution in my hands. Now I had nothing. This sucked on so many levels.

Of all the craptastic things to happen, this had to be the worst. My one chance, ruined.

The sobs became full throttle now. Wheezing, rasping gulps of despair racked my body. The shades hung around until I wiped snot on my sleeve and I stopped bawling.

I brushed a hand across my eyes and slowly got to my feet. My legs felt like cement blocks were strapped to my ankles as I trudged out of the cemetery.

There was no dramatic fight scene. No exchange of clever banter—not that the hellhounds could speak. Just thievery. And an ass kicking. Then no more Orb of Oculus. No more saving the boy I loved.

The next afternoon, I drove to Ariana’s trailer park. The Jeep started without any problems, and I still had no idea why it refused to start the other night.

Two corroded old cars convened in the narrow driveway, surrounded by weeds growing between the cracks in the pavement. A scruffy cat napped on the wooden deck perched on the side of the mobile home.

I rubbed my puffy, bloodshot eyes—I hadn’t slept much the night before—and yawned. I’d stayed up late marveling at being cleansed of the
Darkness
, that shadowy demon at school, the whole weird conversation with Raze, and agonizing over losing the Orb of Oculus.

Why couldn’t I stress over ordinary things? Like my grades. My upcoming finals. My college applications. All normal things juniors usually worried about instead of so much gloom and doom.

I knocked on the door. When Ariana answered, she grasped my arm and pulled me inside. She wore her signature mismatched, tomboy style: purple top over yellow capris with checkerboard Vans.

We were so different, but as close as sisters. If Ariana was summer, I was winter. If she was sunshine, I was moonlight. Like day to night, a dark and stormy one.

The living room had a threadbare rug, an array of potted plants, and an old TV in the corner surrounded by cheap furniture. Two cats darted under the sagging sofa and meowed.

Shuffling into the room, I said, “Hey, what’s going—”

“Hold on. Shiloh just got here,” she said into her cell phone. “I’ll put you on speaker.”

Ariana placed the phone on a wooden table and stepped back. Her curly blonde hair hung loose, and her makeup was light. Ari had one of those glowing complexions that always seemed to sparkle in direct sunlight.

“Girls?” Evans’s voice crackled through the speaker. “Girls, are you there?”

Ariana leaned over the table. “We’re right here, Evans.”

“Shiloh?”

She sat on the tattered sofa and nudged me with her knee.

I pulled my black hoodie tighter around my T-shirt and plopped down next to her. “I’m here, too. I thought we were meeting at your place.”

“Change of plans,” Evans said. “This paranormal retreat is running longer than I expected, but I wanted to talk to you both before I head home in a few days.”

“That’s fine. But I’ve got big news and some not so good news. Which do you want to hear first?”

“Dump the bad on us,” Ariana said.

“The Orb of Oculus was snatched by a hellhound, so I can’t do the spell now,” I said.

“That’s most unfortunate, but perhaps we can locate another. And the good?” Evans asked.

My words tumbled over each other. “Raze came by my house and made me drink this potion and now I’m cured. I can’t feel the
Darkness
at all anymore. It’s beyond awesome.”

Ariana’s blue eyes widened. “Really? You’ve been cleansed?” She beamed and patted me on the back. “That
is
good news!”

I nodded. “Yup. All better. No more demon poison clogging my veins or tainting my white magick. I’m totally healed. I’m like a brand new Shiloh.”

“Good. I’m glad Raze found you,” Evans said.

“You already knew about the potion? Is that why you don’t sound very surprised?” I asked.

Through the speaker, Evans took a patient breath. “Yes. Now that you’ve been cured—you have no idea the power you could wield, Shiloh.”

I hugged a throw pillow to my chest. “Which means
what
?”

A wicker basket of unfolded laundry sat near the couch on the shabby burgundy rug. Ariana picked it up and turned the basket over, dumping the contents out onto the floor.

“Adding a drop of angelic blood to the potion your mom created to cleanse your system will make you more formidable now. It will also give your supernatural talents a major power boost,” Evans said. “You girls have no idea how powerful you could be together in the fight against evil.”

I glanced at Ariana. She sorted through a pile of balled-up sweaters, crumpled socks, and wrinkled jeans, her fingers tense.

“Evans, while we’re on the topic of fighting evil…Trent wants to leave Fallen Oaks because he’s stressing about possibly becoming the next big bad in town,” I said.

“Don’t worry about Trent right now, Shiloh, he’s not going anywhere,” Evans said. “I asked your mom to cast a camouflaging spell to conceal his identity from paranormals, but I’m not sure how long it will disguise his true nature. The
Darkness
within him is quite powerful and it’s often resistant to white magick.”

“But what if it’s too late?” I asked.

“It might be. Still, it can’t hurt to try,” he said.

“Um, Evans, I also I had this up-close-and-personal visit from three nasty Upper Level demons…” I told them about my demon-home-invasion and how the Evil Triad was searching for Trent.

“I’ll do some research into this Triad,” Evans said. “They might be trying to continue where Esael left off. Now that you’ve been cleansed of the
Darkness,
they can’t use you in any of their barbaric rituals.”

“Do you think these demons are trying to unlock the Sheol again?” Ari asked.

“That or something far more sinister,” Evans said. “Regardless, Ariana, you may be able to help prevent the dire situation that has arisen in Fallen Oaks.”

She stood, her arms falling down at her sides, one hand clutching an oversized T-shirt, the other a wad of striped socks. “How could
I
help?”

“Because there’s something very special about you, Ariana,” Evans replied.

She stared at the cell phone, biting the inside of her cheek. “Actually, I have felt sorta different since we did that spell at Phoenix Lake.”

Ariana and I looked at one another, and we must’ve been thinking the same thing: Ari’s inner-witch must finally be waking up.

“On some level, you’ve always known you were different,” Evans said. “Like your mother, you have an elemental power and the ability to manipulate it.”

“But I have no desire to learn magick.” she said.

Evans huffed. “You may not have a choice—”

“Oh, yes, I do! I’ve got enough crap to deal with right now. Like passing the eleventh grade and picking out a dress for the winter formal,” Ariana said. “And just to be clear, I’m only research girl.
Not
a demon hunter, like Shiloh.”

“Understood,” Evans said with a sigh. “We can discuss this in more detail when I return.”

Outside the dirty windows, a flash of movement caught my attention. I hurried across the room to the window, launching myself over a pile of clothing to peer out. Sheriff Boyd and Deputy O’Brian stood beyond the chain-link fence surrounding the trailer park. Boyd lifted his cell phone from his pocket and spoke into the receiver. A black tarp covered something on the ground near their feet, flapping ominously in the wind. Two other deputies pointed and jotted down notes, their heads bent together in the hazy sunshine.

“What’s that about?”

“I don’t know,” Ariana replied, coming up behind me.

I turned and frowned at the phone. “Evans?”

“Yes, Shiloh?”

I kept one eye on the group out the window, their boots sinking in the muddy terrain. “So, you think Ari inherited magick from her mom, like I did from mine?”

After her older sister died, Ariana’s parents had skipped town with the insurance check, and she was forced to live with her aunt Cadence. Her situation sucked as bad as mine.

“That’s precisely what I’m saying, Shiloh,” Evans replied. “She was born with an affinity for white magicks.”

Ariana and I shared a look, then let our gazes drift back to the window. The sunlight glinted off Sheriff Boyd’s bald head. He was a tall black man with a slender build.

“But I don’t have any powers or want them.” Ariana shook her head and backed away from the window, as if she was shaking herself from a bad dream. She tossed folded clothes onto the sofa. “This isn’t some CW series about witches. This is my life you’re talking about!”

“I don’t understand why this would upset you, Ariana,” Evans said. “We need strong individuals like you and Shiloh on the side of good.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I know...it’s just I have enough going on without worrying about becoming a witch. So forgive me if I’m not thrilled to hear that I might have supernatural abilities. I don’t need demons sniffing around my house, like they do at Shiloh’s.”

“I understand, Ariana. No one wants to put you in danger,” Evans said. “But since you’re each descendants of the original families, you must accept your legacy.” He exhaled into the phone. “Nevertheless, I’ve discovered something else concerning your heritage.”

She raised her eyebrows. I gave her the
don’t-look-at-me
shrug.

He blew out another breath. “I’ve been doing some research into the thirteen founding families and uncovered some interesting facts. Apparently, not only is your mother a witch, Ariana, but your father is a…” Evans’s voice became lost to static.

“Evans? You still there?” I asked.

No answer. Only crackling noises from the speaker.

Ariana grabbed the phone off the table and held it in front of her mouth. “Hello?” No reply. “Evans, if you can hear me, we’ll call you back later.” Ariana shoved the phone into her backpack.

“Wait,” I said. “Don’t you wanna hear what he was going to say about your dad?”

She dumped the folded clothes back into the basket. “No. I don’t. My parents abandoned me, Shiloh. I don’t give a fig about them.” Ari looked away, as if a sob was gathering in her throat. “All I’ve ever wanted was to have them in my life. For my dad to cheer me on when I played softball in junior high, or for my mom to give me dating advice. My aunt tries to fill the parental roles, but it’s just not the same...”

Silence wrapped around us. Ariana, Trent, and I had so much in common. We each had crappy parents.

“I understand,” I said quietly. “Whatever it is, I guess it can wait. Sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.” She sat on the sofa and sighed. “I don’t mind helping you research stuff, but fighting demons is all you.” She hung her head, her curls framing her round face. Her gaze rested on the laundry. “I’m not the heroine here—
you
are.”

“It’s cool,” I said. “It was kinda weird for me too when I found out I was a witch. But what if it’s true? I mean, you felt magick that night at the lake.”

After a long moment, she nodded. “But I don’t want to inherit
anything
from my mom. So can we drop it?”

The tiger’s eye necklace around my neck warmed. I never would’ve said this to Ariana in a billion years, but a teeny-tiny part of me was excited at the possibility. What if my best friend could also wield some kind of supernatural power?

“Um, Shiloh, can we keep this whole I-might-be-a-witch thing between us for now? I don’t want to deal with all the questions until we know more.”

“Wow. I would’ve thought you’d be kinda psyched to have powers, too.”

“It’s not that,” she said quickly. “With all the paranormals vacay-ing in Fallen Oaks, I don’t want it getting around that I’m a witch too—for my own safety.”

“I get it.” I gazed at my leather ankle-boots, mottled after days of tromping in the rain. “Especially if the Triad is still here.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

I changed the subject and glanced out the window. “What do you think Sheriff Boyd was doing out there?”

“Got no idea. But it can’t be good,” she replied.

I swallowed. “Ari, I haven’t told Trent that I’ve been cured.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not sure. I will tell him, I just don’t know when. He’s got so much to deal with that I figured it could wait until the right moment, you know?”

She studied me with squinty eyes, then blurted, “Please don’t tell me that it has anything to do with Raze. The last thing you need in your life is another paranormal boy-toy.”

“No! I barely know him and I’m not even sure I can trust him.”

“He did save your ass a few times
and
healed you,” she said. “I’m thinking we can trust him. If he wanted you dead, he would’ve done it by now.”

“Good point. Still, there’s something about him.”

“Sexy-older-guy-attractiveness?”

I laughed. “Well, there’s that, but no, I meant Raze must have ulterior motives for helping me.”

“And you think Trent doesn’t?”

My head jerked back. “What does that mean?”

“You know, I like Trent, but I’ve never fully trusted him. I warned you that he was trouble the first time you saw him and got all googly-eyed.”

“I did
not
get googly-eyed.”

A tabby cat peaked from beneath the sofa and hissed. Ariana opened her mouth to respond, but her eyes grew huge. The trailer shook violently on its pillars. Magazines slid off an end-table and one of the framed prints on the wall crashed to the floor. Heavy footsteps lumbered on the roof and the trailer shuddered under the weight. Ariana and I glanced at each other.

“What the hell was that?” I asked.

The front door burst open, banging against the wall, and a blast of arctic wind rushed over our bodies like a tidal wave. I raised a hand to cover my face. The gale thrashed around us, whipping hair into our eyes.

“Ariana…” a disembodied voice whispered.

My heart was trip-hammering, nerves strung tight as bowstrings. Was it the Triad or something else? I inched toward the doorway. The air emitted a cold so deep and sharp, the harsh chill penetrated my clothes. Frost cracked the edges of each window.

My gaze was drawn toward the right side of the windowpane, and for a terrifying second, a pair of fiery-red eyes stared at me through the glass.

“We need to go!” I yelled over the roaring windstorm, grasping Ariana’s cold hand. I tugged her outside, and the door slammed behind us.

Ariana’s pale face turned in my direction. “What the hell was that?”

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine. Just a little shook up.”

Sheriff Boyd parked his police cruiser behind the Jeep. The winds died and Ari sagged onto the porch steps. Whatever evil had been here was gone. Boyd’s sudden appearance must’ve scared it off for some reason. I breathed out slowly and my heart rate dropped back to normal.

Boyd got out of the vehicle and walked toward us. “Ariana, may I have a word?” The man towered over us, the embodiment of law enforcement, dressed in a blue uniform with black boots.