Unearthed (7 page)

“I’m just…surprised she didn’t sense it, that the Book of the Ancients never revealed you to her.”

“Yes, well, it is selective like that, only showing what it wishes to whom it wishes, when necessary.”

“So, you were never a frozen soul? You’ve never been to Amaranth?”

“No. I can’t believe you’re stuck here, that you destroyed Gérard and his curse. I…I never thought he’d lose. He locked Samira up here to do his dirty work, while he made Earth his playground. He always got what he wanted, every time.”

“He still did, technically.” My gaze dropped to my lap, remembering the faces of our cherished friends and family, whom we were cut off from.

“Well, now we have a chance to set it right, in its entirety.”

“We can do that?” My mind suddenly raced with possibilities. “How?”

“Samira chose me to communicate with you not just because she needed a witch for the link, but because she wants my forgiveness. She wants to make amends, and she wants to free you all from Amaranth—for good, this time. She’s found a way to unite you all and bring you home.”

My hands were trembling now, but not because of fear. “You’re saying…are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

For the first time since Anastasia had woken up, a full-blown genuine smile lit up her face, and the tears that spilled down her cheeks were from joy, not the impact of her sister’s betrayal.

“Yes. Samira and your friends have joined forces with original witches on Earth. They’ve found a way to undo Gérard’s spell, the one that holds you here. They know how to reopen the bayou portal.”

“What?” I jumped to my feet, my heart racing along with my head, every cell in me bursting with urgency. “How, when…please, I need details!”

“The link instructed me to tell you to be at the old portal entry when the next crescent moon rises.”

I flung myself forward, hugging the stranger before me. I didn’t care who she was or how she’d hurt Samira. I didn’t care about anything at that moment except the words coming from her mouth. The revelation that this wasn’t the end for us, that this wasn’t the end for Amaranth, threw me into action. We weren’t trapped here for eternity, and we would see our friends again. “This can’t be real,” I murmured, my tears soaking into Anastasia’s hair. “I have to find Gavin!” I released her and darted for Ava’s room, carefully lifting her from her bed.

She whimpered and clung to me in protest. “Mommy, I wanna stay in bed.”

“I know, baby, but this can’t wait. We have to find Daddy and celebrate!”

Anastasia waited patiently, wiping her eyes and finishing her tea, while I worked to secure shoes on Ava’s feet.

“Did Samira’s link show you anything about our friends? Will they all be at the portal? Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, they’re all alive and well. Samira made sure to show me they were all involved with this.”

“Okay, let’s get to the castle and tell Gavin. We’ll make an announcement and explain everything to the Amaranthians as soon as we get back.” I smiled widely and pecked Ava on the nose, moving for the door. She rested her sleepy head on my shoulder. Anastasia followed, hurriedly rushing to my side. I unlocked the door and halted as a wall of faces greeted me, their expressions hard and unyielding. Blazing torches lit the night air, their flames crackling. I scanned the crowd, my brain registering the faces immediately.

The group of wary, disapproving villagers and ex-guards from the Haven.

“Going somewhere?” One of the men asked, gripping a hatchet in one hand.

7

“What’s the meaning of this?” the man demanded, his eyes widening and straining through the darkness to focus on Anastasia, Samira’s green-eyed twin.

“It can’t be!” someone shouted. The group began to chatter all at once, their voices growing more enraged by the second.

“Hold on, will you?” I spoke up, gripping Ava tightly against my body. She was fully awake now, her scared little face burying into my neck. “I know how this looks, but this isn’t Samira. Everything will be explained to you, but first we need to get to the castle to speak to Gavin. We have news—great news!”

Before I could tell them to step aside so we could be on our way, three villagers lunged toward us, seizing us by the arms and forcing us out into the street.

“Get your hands off me!” I shrieked, instant fury building as they pried Ava from me. She screamed, kicking and thrashing as one of the ex-guards worked to restrain and calm her. Anastasia protested quietly by my side, wiggling and fighting the hold of another villager’s arms. She glanced to Ava and then me, her distressed expression as helpless as my own.

After spending time as a frozen soul, there was nothing more infuriating than being unable to protect myself or the ones I love. Being reduced to mere human strength and old-school weapons was beyond terrifying, especially when we were outnumbered. Gavin and I knew some basic magic, but we weren’t witches. The little we’d learned would never be enough to protect our family. Conjuring was like learning another language. If you didn’t practice regularly, you lost your touch.

“When Gavin finds out you touched me and my daughter, he’ll—”

“He’ll what, huh?” my captor laughed, rolling his eyes. “What’s he gonna do,
your majesty
, lock us up in the castle tower?” He yanked my arms hard behind my back, lowering his mouth close to my ear. “No more special powers to keep you safe. No more playing king and queen. We have protection of our own, and we don’t bow down to you anymore.”

“No one ever said you had to bow to us,” I spat. “Why are you doing this?”

“Leave them alone,” Anastasia said, her voice timid but firm. “What do you want?”

“Answers, for one thing,” he looked down at me, his lips curling in anger, “like what you found in that secret passage. I guess we have the answer to that right here, though, don’t we?”

“I’m not Samira,” Anastasia countered, “I’m her twin sister. If you look hard enough, you’ll see that.”

“A twin? Since when?”

“It’s news to me, too,” I said.

“Well, you’re going to tell us all about it. In the Haven.”

I yanked to the left with a shout. “You’re scaring my daughter! Let her go! We’re not going anywhere with you!”

“You wanna bet?” He jerked me back, reminding me who was in charge. “We’ve been standing on the sidelines for years now, ever since you and your friends trapped us in this damn realm, watching as you rebuilt this place and tried to call it
home
. It will never be
home
. Home is Earth, and you stole that from us! You built your stupid little restaurant, had your adorable family, and decorated your sickeningly sweet little home, while we labored away, building new villages and learning how to conjure. It’s because of us you have food and clothing and shelter.”

“You volunteered to do those things! We aren’t dictators, we never
ordered
you to do anything.” Ava’s cries pierced my heart, but I worked hard to stay focused on this maniac’s words. I had to speak to him, had to reason with him and talk him down somehow, if I expected to escape. I couldn’t depend on Gavin, even if he returned. Not now. Not when we were outnumbered like this. Too much was at stake.

Ava was in danger.

The crowd voiced their agreement in the street, encouraging the man to put me in my place.

“Before you share
your
news, we have some news of our own, honey,” he chided, eyeing his friends. “All that time we spent learning how to conjure? It paid off. We’re the resident witches, now. Our magic is strong, and it’s only going to get stronger. It’s your turn to bow to us.”

“All of a sudden you have a problem with what we’ve done with the realm? We’ve been here for years. It wasn’t our fault you didn’t make it to Earth before the portal closed. If I didn’t kill Gérard when I did, we’d never be free from the frozen soul curse, don’t you get that? He would’ve continued to rule and persecute our people. Is that what you wanted? You wanted to be a prisoner for eternity? I’m sorry I couldn’t save everyone. I’m sorry not everyone made it out on time, but it was better than the alternative.”

“Why, because you say so? You and the resistance went and made that decision all on your own, and we’re supposed to just smile and be grateful you did? Not everyone was on board with that plan, did that ever occur to you? Now we
are
prisoners for eternity! You think we feel this way
all of a sudden
?” He scoffed in disbelief, gesturing to his friends. “We’ve had a problem with it since day one, which you would’ve noticed if you paid any damn attention! When you trapped us here, we didn’t have much of a choice, now did we? So we blended in, retreated quietly. Went along with your stupid plan to play house, picked up as many conjure lessons as we could, studied every piece of information we could get our hands on. That library you set up in the castle? It’s been pretty handy. Now we know more about the witches’ magic than any of the other villagers, and you know what?” He shot me a menacing smile. It was one I recognized well.

Revenge was written all over it.

“We’re ready to use it.”

Anastasia surprised me by speaking up, her voice suddenly turning cocky. “With what?” she quipped, “hatchets and kitchen knives? If your magic is so strong now, why defend yourselves with silly human weapons?”

The man restraining me turned his glare on Anastasia, sizing her up as if she were a dish he was ready to eat. “Human weapons can be pretty fun,” he tossed back. “Messy, but fun. Hang around, sweetie. We’ll show you just how effective they can be.”

“You sadistic son of a bitch,” she fumed, holding his glare. “This was never how our magic was intended to be used. You’re no better than Gérard, perverting it and turning it into something vile!”

“Our magic?”

Chills shot straight from my head to the soles of my feet. Anastasia swallowed, her eyes flicking to mine.

“You were…were a witch, just like your sister, weren’t you?” He stepped closer to her, dragging me with him.

“No,” she answered quietly, her gaze dropping to the ground. She shut her eyes, appearing to be focusing on something. Her jaw clenched and she squeezed them tighter, breathing deep before opening them and lifting her glare again. “It’s not that I
was
,” she said sweetly, “It’s that I
am
. And for future reference,
sweetie
? It’s not wise to threaten an original.”

Realization hit the man like a tidal wave, and he staggered back, sending a nervous glance to his friends. “Hey, wait. Just wait a minute, now…”

Anastasia’s arms were suddenly free as the man who’d been restraining her was blasted up into the air and landed somewhere down the street. A painful crash echoed off the cobblestone, and then I was released next. My captor’s grip was forcefully ripped from me, and he too was sent flying.

Everything happened faster than I could blink.

Ava was whisked straight back into my arms, an invisible force carrying her swiftly out of another man’s grip.

“Sorry, Camille,” Anastasia said, “I’ve been weak since I awakened. I wasn’t sure my magic was strong enough yet, or if my powers would even return.” She thrust her arms forward and gave the group of shocked villagers a flick of her wrist, sending them soaring up and off their feet. Their screams ruptured all around us as they flailed into the air and came crashing down, their flaming torches plummeting to the street like sinking fireballs.

Two of the men quickly recovered, hell bent on retaliating. They raised their arms, lifting the torches with their magic and sending them soaring in our direction. “Men,” she mumbled, directing another jolt toward them, knocking them off their feet.

“Get inside, Camille!” She deflected the torches from hitting their targets with another swish of her wrist, then pushed me and Ava back toward the door, shielding us. I covered Ava’s head and dashed inside, skidding to a stop when I heard Gavin yelling out in the street.

“Anastasia!” he screamed, his yell echoing into the house. I pulled the living room curtains aside, spotting him running full speed toward her, two silver knives in hand. Anastasia continued to fight off some of the attackers and hurriedly exchanged words with Gavin, ushering him inside.

“Cam, thank God!” he exploded with relief, bursting into the house. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. Are you both okay?” He dropped his weapons and took me and Ava into his arms, frantically kissing the tops of our heads.

“We’re fine, it’s okay. Anastasia’s an original witch—Samira’s twin.”

Gavin’s face paled, his arm’s grip tightening around us. “Twin? How can that…how do we know we can trust her?” He nervously turned his head to look out the window. “This could all be a trick, Camille. I don’t know what’s going on, but I went back to the secret passage, found the entry to the tomb from the conservatory. There was furniture set up, like a bedroom or something, tucked away in this dark, musty corner. Looked like someone had been living in there. There was some sort of shrine or something, a wall of pictures of Anastasia, with candles and everything. It was like a tribute to her life. I don’t understand.”