The Darkness Within (12 page)

I heard footsteps coming down the hall and summoned all my strength to cast a bubble spell. I couldn’t let anyone see me like this, and I didn’t have the will to get myself up off the floor. I sobbed in my protective shield. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the terrified look on Ethan’s face. He wouldn’t let himself put me in jeopardy. If he thought there was even the slightest chance he’d hurt me, he’d take off for good. I’d never see him again. I couldn’t live without him. Not after everything we’d been through. He was my life now.

Two hands snaked under my arms and lifted me. Had I dropped my spell? I swatted at the hands. “Relax, it’s me,” Shannon said. I sank in her arms. “Easy. I don’t want to have to use magic to hold you up. You feel like a lead weight right now.” She half-dragged me into the classroom, the same one Ethan and I had been in. Ethan. He was gone. Possibly for good. My sobbing got louder and more out of control. “Sam!” Shannon yelled in my face and shook me by my shoulders. “Get a grip. I can’t help you if you can’t tell me what’s wrong. Now get a hold of yourself before I smack you across the face to snap you out of this.”

My bottom lip sucked into my mouth, and I bit down on it. I
needed a different pain to focus on. The one in my heart was killing me.

“Better now, or should I warm up my hand for that slap?” She wasn’t really going to hit me—at least I didn’t think so. She was trying to ease the tension, distract me until my sobbing got under control. “Good. Now that you’re breathing semi-normally, tell me what happened.”

“Ethan.” My body shook at the mere mention of his name. Shannon raised her hand in warning. “I told him what Dylan said, what Dylan did to Mindy.”

“What? Are you an idiot?” Shannon threw her hands in the air. “Let me guess—he took off?”

I nodded, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Damn it! When are couples in love going to realize telling the truth all the time just gets people hurt? Screw open, honest relationships. Sometimes you need to lie to protect the person you love.”

I knew all about that. I’d lied to Ethan for too long now. “I couldn’t lie to him anymore. And I thought telling him about Dylan would make him see he needs to be careful with his magic.”

“Yeah, because guys always listen to reason.” Her sarcasm cut through the air between us. “Guys are idiots. You have to tell them how to act and feel.”

“That’s ridiculous, Shannon. You don’t really believe that.” Or maybe she did, and that explained why she got turned down by a lot of guys despite her appearance.

“Whatever. Believe what you want, but Ethan’s gone. I think that proves my point.”

“We have to get him back. You have to help me. If we go right now, we can catch up with him. He doesn’t have that much of a lead on us.” I tugged on her hand.

“Not going to work.” She shook free. “I did a locator spell on both of you. That’s how I found you in the hallway. Your bubble spell was pathetic, probably because you were too busy crying to maintain it. Ethan, on the other hand, has one kick-ass shield on himself right now.”

“Are you telling me there’s no way to locate him?”

“No. I’m saying it’s going to take time and we’ll need Dylan’s help.”

Dylan. He probably had my necklace by now. If we did find Ethan, he’d know exactly why I was wearing the necklace. It would prove to him that I didn’t trust his magic around me. I wasn’t going through with it. I couldn’t. I’d lose him forever if I did. I had to find him and show him I believed in him. Believed in us. What we had was stronger than dark magic. It had to be.

Shannon took out her phone and texted Dylan. “He’ll be here in a second.”

Great, another person to yell at me for telling Ethan about Mindy. Dylan definitely wasn’t going to be happy with me. That had been his secret to tell. Shannon and I stood there in silence, neither knowing what to say. We knew we had to find Ethan. After that, we didn’t have a plan.

Dylan walked into the room, holding my necklace out in front of him. “Here. Put this on.”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve decided I’m not going to wear it.”

“What?” Dylan and Shannon said, sharing a look.

“Ethan’s gone.”

“He’s gone?” Dylan looked around as if he expected Ethan to magically appear in the room. “What happened?”

Shannon crossed her arms. “She told him.”

“Told him what?” Dylan practically growled at me.

“About Mindy.” My voice was as small as I felt.

“Damn it, Sam!” Dylan balled his fists, and I stepped back. He looked at his hands and then me. “I’m not going to hit you! What, I tell you my secret and now you’re not going to trust me?” Could he really blame me for being on edge around him? He’d admitted to murder. “
You
killed more than one person, and I’m still talking to you. Hell, I’m still trying to help you. Though right now I’m not sure why.”

“Okay, lay off.” Shannon stepped between us. “Sam made a mistake. She knows that. You two will be fine…eventually. We don’t have time to worry about it now. Ethan took off. He’s afraid he’ll hurt Sam. We have to find him before the dark magic consumes him.”

“Fine,” Dylan said through tight lips. “We’ll do a locator spell.”

“Already tried. He’s using a spell to shield himself.”

“He’s using magic?” Dylan’s eyes bugged out. “Sam tells him his magic is dark and he decides to go ahead and use it? What a moron!”

“Stop it!” My body shook. I couldn’t take this anymore. “He’s confused. That’s more reason why we need to find him as soon as possible.”

Dylan exhaled loudly and gazed out the window. “We need to go somewhere else to do a spell of this size. I need a few things, too.” He faced us again, his eyes not resting on mine for long. “Go to the clearing. I’ll meet you there as soon as I get the supplies I need.” He stormed out, leaving me feeling like the black sheep of the coven.

Shannon and I used a bubble spell to get out of the school undetected. We were able to walk right past the school cop and through the front doors. At least one thing had gone right. Shannon drove since Ethan had taken his car. I sat in the passenger seat, staring at the leaves falling from the trees. Usually fall was my favorite time of year. Now every leaf that fell made me think of the things I’d lost in my life. My family, my friends, my real name, and now possibly Ethan.

It took me a moment to realize the car had stopped moving. We were in the clearing. I got out and ran to our meeting place. Dylan couldn’t get here quick enough for me. I wanted this spell over with so we could find Ethan and bring him back. I needed to be with him. He might have dark magic inside him, but I could help him. I knew I could.

Shannon jogged after me. “Hey, slow down. Dylan isn’t even here yet. There’s no point in running.”

“You don’t have to run with me,” I snapped at her. She didn’t get it. I had to do something. Standing around, waiting for Dylan or casually strolling through the woods, wasn’t going to get anything accomplished. At least running burned some of this energy inside me before it consumed me.

“Sam, stop!”

Something tugged at my waist, gently at first, but as I tried to push past it, it pulled back with more force. “Knock it off, Shannon!” How dare she use magic on me!

“No.” She was in front of me now, her long, auburn hair blowing wildly behind her. “I won’t stop. I’m not the one out of control here. In fact, I’m the only sane one left in our coven.”

I’d never wanted to spit in someone’s face so badly before. She
was holding me back, and even though Ethan wasn’t in these woods, even though I couldn’t run him down, I had to move. “Get this spell off me. Now! Don’t make me show you what I’m capable of. I have twice the power you do.”

She threw her hands out to her sides. “Go ahead, Sam. Become your boyfriend, and Dylan before him.” She stepped closer, getting right in my face. “Are you an idiot? You’ve seen what abusing your magic can do. Your emotions are beyond reason right now. If you tap into your magic, you’ll be no better off than Ethan is.” She stared into my eyes, her anger turning to sympathy. “And who will save him then?”

I stopped fighting the magic wrapped around my waist. Instead, I let it hold me up, support the pain I was feeling inside. “This is my fault, Shannon. All of it. Ethan wouldn’t be a witch if it weren’t for me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it’s your fault you died of cancer at seventeen. That makes a whole hell of a lot of sense.”

“It was selfish of me to continue dating him after I was diagnosed. I knew I was going to die, and I let him stick around for it. I let him watch me wither away.” Tears choked my words. “All Ethan ever did was love me, and now he’s being punished for it.”

“Stop.” She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “What the hell do I have to do to knock some sense into you? Ethan made his own choices. Do you really think he would’ve left your bedside even if you did break up with him?”

No. He would’ve forced his way in. He would’ve found a way to be with me until the end. Just like he’d found a way to bring me back from the dead. “He doesn’t deserve this.”

“I know. I want to help Ethan, too, but what you’re doing right now isn’t working. You have to get a hold of yourself. You said it yourself; you have more power than I do. You’re the strongest member of the coven. This locator spell won’t work without you.” She made it sound like she wasn’t even sure it would work
with
me, and that sent chills through me.

“Sam, if we lose you, too…” She shook her head. “Dylan can’t come back from dark magic twice. It will kill him. Mirabella told us dark magic takes a toll on the person who uses it. It comes with a
price. Dylan paid part of that price when he took Mindy’s life.” Her eyes watered. “If he turns to dark magic again, it will be
his
life on the line this time.”

Something in her eyes gave away the slightest bit of heartbreak. She’d never talked about Dylan as anything other than a member of the coven. Did she feel more for him?

“I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no. I don’t have a thing for him. He’s like family to me.”

“What about Tristan?” She had a brother already. Why would she view Dylan that way when she tried so hard to avoid her own flesh and blood?

“Yeah, well, in case you haven’t noticed, Tristan and I have nothing in common. So much for the whole twin-bonding thing. I mean, he has no clue I’m a witch. How is that possible?”

I’d heard about studies where twins could practically read each other’s minds and feel each other’s pain. Tristan and Shannon weren’t anything like that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it bothered you. I kind of thought you were ashamed to be related to Tristan. That’s what he thinks, anyway.”

“I’m not ashamed of him.” She turned away, but I could tell she was crossing her arms in front of her, giving herself a hug. I would’ve hugged her if I wasn’t still being held up by her spell. “Do you know my parents think he’s the popular one?”

“What? How?” Tristan didn’t have many friends. He kind of kept to himself most of the time. Now he had Beth, but she was the first girl I’d seen him even talk to other than me, and I was pretty sure she was still dating Mark, too.

“Because I let them believe that.” Her tone wasn’t superior, like she was saying they only thought it because she allowed them to. This was her way of saying she’d done a little magic on her parents.

“You really need to stop messing with people’s heads like that, Shannon. How is that not tapping into dark magic?”

“Because I give them the choice to believe me or not.” She turned back to me. “I only put suggestions in people’s heads. I don’t command them or tell them they have to believe what I say. They have the free will to think what they want after I put the suggestion there.”

“But why’d you do it? Why’d you suggest to your parents that Tristan is popular? What’s the point?”

“He’s kind of a loser.” Her voice was small. “I love my brother, Sam. I hate that people talk about him behind his back and sometimes even to his face. Tristan looks for our parents’ approval.” She shrugged. “So, I did what I could to make sure he got it.”

Wow. All this time I’d thought Shannon couldn’t stand her brother, but she’d been protecting him in her own weird way. She mumbled under her breath, and the energy surrounding me disappeared. I was free. “You do know he’d have an easier time at school if you’d be nicer to him, talk to him a little.”

“He’s a nice guy. Hanging out with Shannon the Bitch wouldn’t get him any popularity points.”

Hearing her talk about herself that way made my stomach churn. “You’re not a bitch. I wish you’d let people see the real you once in a while.”

“She can’t.” Dylan walked up to us with a wooden box and some herbs. “She’s a witch. People don’t respond well to that sort of thing.” He arranged the box and herbs in the middle of the campfire. “Stay back. This is going to flare up and fast.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a toothbrush.

“Is that Ethan’s?”

“I needed a personal effect.”

“So you broke into my house for the second time today. Just great.”

“Do you want to argue or do you want to find your boyfriend?” He glared at me for a moment before turning back to the campfire. He said a spell while waving over the twigs. They burst into flames, igniting the box and the herbs inside. “Stand back.” Dylan dangled the toothbrush over the fire, letting the flames lick at the bristles. He motioned for us to join him.

Shannon and I joined hands. We weren’t a circle by any means. More like an awkward triangle. Dylan began the spell, and Shannon and I repeated each line after he said it. On the third time through, we were in unison with him. Dylan dropped the toothbrush into the flames and the fire erupted. It danced through our joined hands now that Dylan had completed the triangle. I knew the flames wouldn’t
hurt me, but it was still surreal to see my skin touching fire and not burning.

An image appeared in the flames. “Ethan.” My voice was a whisper.

“Don’t break the spell,” Dylan warned. The image began to shimmer and fade.

I joined back in. We couldn’t lose him now. Ethan was looking out at the river. The sun reflected off the tears on his cheeks. He was in our spot. The mountaintop. I should’ve known he’d go there. But then again, why would he? I would’ve thought he’d go somewhere I’d never look. That he’d stay hidden. Yet there he was, out in the open, like he was waiting to be found.