Witch Emerging (High Witch Book 2) (7 page)

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door, startling her, but she felt a sense of joy, thinking it was Sean. She hurried over to it, swinging it open.

Nicholas stood there, smiling at her. “Hello, Hallie. May I come in?”

Hallie slammed the door in his face. She stormed away, telling herself to calm down, but then Nicholas appeared in front of her. He’d seen inside her place—he could magically transport inside. She clenched her fists. “Get out,” she seethed. “I don’t care what you want—just leave me alone.”

Nicholas stepped towards her, still smiling, arrogant. Then his expression became more serious, and he gazed at her, eyes narrowed. “I’ve captured your red-haired friend,” he said slowly. “He’s safe, but you need to come with me if you want him to stay that way. I’m not going to hurt either of you, but you need to come quietly.”

Hallie stared at him, wondering if he was telling the truth. She clasped her hands together, shaking slightly. “You’ve captured Sean? Why? What do you want?”

“You’ll find out in time. For now, I just need you to come with me. And you can’t try anything—if you hurt me, you’ll never find him.”

Hallie took in her breath, wondering what in the world was going on. She kept shaking, her lip quivering. “What do you want with us?” she said, her voice wobbly. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“That doesn’t matter. Hallie, it’s quite simple. Come with me
now
, or Sean dies. Do you want to be blamed for someone else being hurt?”

She looked at him, then shook her head. “No,” she said weakly. “I’ll go with you. But don’t hurt him. Please.”

Nicholas didn’t say anything, reached out, and grasped her arm. She felt a spinning sensation and then they appeared in a small room with drawn curtains and only a few candles providing light. Hallie’s eyes adjusted to the dimness, finding the room only contained a table and two chairs. Nicholas gestured for her to sit down.

Hallie faltered for a moment, then obeyed. She took shaky breaths. Nicholas sat across from her, folding his hands on the table. She couldn’t believe he seemed so calm, so confident. But his smile was definitely gone. His mood was darker now.

“N-now what?” Hallie asked, when some time had passed.

Nicholas sighed. “Now, we wait.”

Chapter 9

“I don’t understand. Why didn’t it work? Nothing happened.” Ariel looked up at Brayden from where she sat at the kitchen table. The potion cooled in a pot over the fireplace; a mug of it sat on the table, some of which Ariel had drunk before she cast the spell, some of it in the vial. Ariel sighed. “I focused on my type of magic when I cast the spell. I reached out in my mind, concentrating on finding someone else with the same kind of magic. But I didn’t feel a thing. Did I cast the spell wrong?”

“I don’t know, Ariel,” Brayden said, standing beside her. “Your power is very strong—I’m sure you did it properly. Maybe… maybe you just need to try again. Maybe it will take a few tries to work properly.”

She frowned, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll give it another go.”

Ariel took another small drink of the potion and shut her eyes for a long time, holding the vial by a string over the map.

Brayden watched her carefully, hoping it would work this time.

Ariel took a deep breath, her brow crinkling, and then she settled again. Brayden waited for several moments in the silent room. Finally Ariel put down the vial and scratched her head. “Nothing,” she said, sighing. “I want to find her so badly! I’m so worried about her, just in case something’s wrong. I guess we’ll have to do what Julius did: ask around and travel until we find someone who’s heard of a witch with unusual power. It was probably too good to be true to think the spell would work, but I was so hopeful…”

Brayden gently grasped Ariel’s arm and moved her so she was standing beside him, then put his arms around her. She snuggled close to him, leaning against him while he held her. He softly kissed her hair. She murmured something against his neck, and he smiled. “I didn’t quite catch that,” he said, kissing her shoulder.

She lifted her head and gazed at him, her eyes full of sadness.

Brayden’s smile faded. “What is it? Are you alright?”

She frowned, biting her lip. “I just have a weird feeling that she’s in trouble. I don’t know if there’s anything behind it, but I feel like we need to find her quickly. I don’t know how, though. I could try the spell a few more times, but what if it doesn’t work? It could take months to find her the other way! Years, even! I’m just so…”

Ariel’s eyes grew wide, and before he knew it she disappeared, gone from his grasp.

Brayden whirled around, wondering what in the world just happened, then began to storm through the house. “Ariel!” he screamed. “Ariel, where are you!”

“Brayden!” she called, and he ran into their bedroom. She was on the floor, struggling to sit up. Brayden rushed to her side, lifted her up, and placed her on the bed. He sat beside her, holding her closely.

“The baby, she took over—I couldn’t stop her from transporting me away. Luckily it was only to here, but…”

“Ariel, we’re binding her powers. If she
took over
at this stage, heaven knows what she’ll do when she’s bigger. No arguing. You need to do this.”

“No! I can’t!”

“Ariel! It’s too dangerous, and you know it! Listen to me, please!”

Ariel moved away from him, crossing her arms over her chest, breathing heavily.

Brayden ran a hand over his face, wishing she would see sense. He groaned. “This is probably distressing for her too, you know. I don’t know what a baby can feel, can sense, but this isn’t normal. It’s not right! Ariel, you can’t stubbornly stick to this notion that you’ll be hurting the child by binding her powers. You have no proof, and you’re endangering yourself! Why won’t you listen?”

“You can’t tell me what to do! This is my decision!” Ariel cried. “I don’t want to take part of her away, because
that’s
not right. It’s not right to change her, maybe permanently, just because it hurts me a little! I’m not doing it, Brayden, and you can’t make me!” Ariel stood up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Brayden gritted his teeth and then he heard the front door slam also.
Great, she’s gone.
He groaned again and put his head in his hands, wishing he could take back the fight. But he felt he was right, felt Ariel should see his point of view. What if she was in danger? He could lose her, lose them
both
… The thought made him sick to his stomach. He had to convince her to do this before it was too late.

***

Ariel stormed down the road, her fists clenched at her sides. A cold wind interspersed with drops of rain whirled around her, diminishing the effect of the warm spring evening. The air grew colder as she hurried along, the sky darker, the rain heavier—then she stopped, realizing what she was doing. She shut her eyes and took calming breaths, trying to stop the storm she was inadvertently creating. After a few moments she felt a warm breeze and opened her eyes to a clear sky.
Dammit
. She had to stay calm or she’d start a hurricane. Had to stay calm, because she didn’t want to stress her little girl.

Ariel leaned against a tree by the side of the road, not understanding what was going on. She knew it was her duty to find the other High Witch, so she was upset about the spell not working, but she was so confused about what her child was doing to her. She was so happy she was pregnant, felt such love for her baby, but didn’t know how she was going to cope with the next handful of months. She
knew
her baby was good,
knew
she wasn’t trying to hurt her, but Brayden was so worried. Was she being stubborn, like he said?

He didn’t understand, didn’t know what it had been like for her, having to keep her magic hidden all her life. Didn’t know what it had been like to have to bind her own powers in a way, to always have to hold herself back. To try not to get too emotional, denying so much of who she was for fear she would hurt someone. For fear of rejection. For so many years, she had to keep herself bottled up, and now that she was finally free—well, she wasn’t about to inflict any kind of restriction on her child. She wasn’t a fool—she knew binding the baby’s powers wouldn’t hurt her. But what if the spell couldn’t be reversed? What if she damaged her little girl forever? Stopped her from becoming who she was meant to be? What if she took away who she really was? Would she ever forgive herself? Would Erica ever forgive her?

Then she remembered her dream-vision. Erica was sitting with her at age six, and she had her powers. She was a High Witch. And she was so sweet, so beautiful. The dream had lessened her fear that she would die when Erica was born—was the vision also telling her it would be okay to bind her child’s powers? That her daughter’s magic would be fine? Was it the ultimate reassurance?

Ariel didn’t know, but she knew she had to go home and sort this out with Brayden. She didn’t want to argue with him. He was her love, her passion, the other half of her soul. She couldn’t be cruel to him, disregard his feelings, push him aside. They would talk about this, discuss it, and come to some kind of resolution.

She straightened and began the walk home when an overwhelming pain entered her head, and she was brought to her knees by the scenes rushing through her mind.

A young woman.

A man, tied up.

Their captor, a tall, young man, cruelty in his eyes.

And a blinding, enormous, destructive spell.

Ariel knelt there, panting, the vision taking her breath away. She stood shakily, trying to calm down. Taking slow, deep breaths, her mind worked to make sense of what she saw. Whatever it was, it was happening tomorrow. Whoever the girl was, she was a High Witch. But their captor… he made Ariel feel a chill in her bones. That was no ordinary warlock. He was familiar in a way she thought she’d never see again.

He looked just like Julius.

Chapter 10

Hallie sat with Nicholas quietly, waiting for him to say or do something. They were still in the dimly lit room, sitting there in silent tension. There was nothing on the table save for some candles and a black leather book, its pages faded and yellowed. Hallie didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to behave. Was Sean alright? Had Nicholas hurt him? What was going on?

“Tell… tell me what you want with us,” Hallie said, her voice shaky. “It’s the least you could do. I’m here, doing as you asked. Why do you want me and Sean?”

“It’s you I want, Hallie,” Nicholas said. “Sean is just my leverage over you.”

Hallie felt fear run through her. What could Nicholas possibly want with her? She was no one, nothing. She cleared her throat. “And why do you want me?”

Nicholas gazed at her with his dark eyes, his jaw clenched and his entire body tense. “I’m not going to reveal everything. Suffice it to say capturing you is a means to an end. You needn’t worry—as long as you don’t try anything, you and Sean will be safe. You’ll both be able to walk way at the end of this. That is, as long as you don’t do anything stupid and get us all killed.”

Hallie swallowed loudly, her face burning. The horror of the nightmare she’d had only a little while ago still shook her. Nicholas had a power over her—not just having captured Sean, which made her feel sick, but he knew her greatest fear. Hurting people. She gritted her teeth, hating that he’d trapped them. She clenched her fists. “You’re the one putting us in danger, not me!” she cried. “You’re the one who’s threatening me! I don’t
want
to use my magic—I don’t
want
to fight anyone—but the longer you keep me and Sean here, the more upset I’ll get, and I can’t control my power when I get upset. You know the story, you know what happened. If I feel threatened, my magic comes out and people get hurt! Tell me why I’m here! Tell me what’s going on!” Hallie shut her eyes, trying to control the fear and turmoil boiling inside of her. A harsh wind blew around the room and the air became very cold. She looked at Nicholas, but the candles had been blown out, throwing them into darkness.

Nicholas reached over and grasped her arm. “Hallie, stop! I’ll tell you more. Just stop!”

She took deep breaths, lessening some of her panic, and the room returned to normal. Nicholas put his hand over the candles and lit them with his magic. Hallie stared at him, still filled with emotion but trying to get a handle on it.

Nicholas looked very pale but remained composed. He took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you more, just calm down. You have to control yourself.”

Hallie only nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Nicholas sighed. “Like I said, I don’t want to hurt you and Sean. I used Sean to get you here, and I’m using you to get to someone else. Her name is Ariel. Because of her, someone I cared about very deeply is dead, and I want her to suffer for it. I need to avenge this person, need to make up for what was done to them. Ariel can’t get away with it. She needs to suffer, like my loved one suffered. She needs to pay for what happened. Ariel is looking for you, Hallie, and it’s only a matter of time before she finds you. When she comes for you, I’ll be waiting and then I can get rid of her. Nothing will happen to you—this is about Ariel. When she’s gone, you and Sean will be free. That’s all there is.”

Nicholas sat back in his chair, as if he’d answered all of her questions, but Hallie had a dozen more. She was too frightened to ask them, as Nicholas was clearly disturbed. This was all about revenge? Who was the person he’d lost? Was Nicholas insane—would he just kill her and Sean if they tried to escape? And who was Ariel, and why was she looking for her? Hallie shook her head, too confused to make sense of anything and just wishing this was over. She glanced at Nicholas and found he was staring at her, as if he was trying to read her thoughts. She frowned. “Is Ariel a witch?” she asked. Nicholas didn’t say anything. She felt that confirmed it. “If Ariel’s a witch, she’ll fight you,” she said, looking at the table. “Unless her power is very weak.”