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Chapter 40
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2024-10-29 19:42:56I swallowed past the pain my throat before glancing around the basement. Panic gripped my chest. "Where's Poe?"
Kastem padded over to a small amount of concrete rubble.
"I didn't think you would want him to get hurt more," John said and made a flicking motion with his fingers.
A small flash of relief flared through me as the pile of rubble moved to show Poe, untouched by the fight with Louca. I struggled to stand, my body nearly refusing outright.
Picking him up was difficult as I tried to use my injured hand. The burn had already blistered and broken, the wound weeping.
"What about your necklace?" John asked, standing over where it still lay smoking on the floor.
What was I supposed to do with it now?
After getting Poe settled in the crook of my arm, I walked back over to where John stood. Bending down carefully I held my good hand out over the ruined chain, trying to see if it was still as hot as the pendant. It was warm but not unb
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Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 41
I slept for a day and a half after we returned. Mom didn't take the news about Liam well. Who would? I still have trouble believing it myself.Avery, John, and I drove to the Reinhardt house once I was feeling better, but they wouldn't let me take a turn driving. I didn't argue.We arrived late in the afternoon, the sun highlighted the white columns on the front of the Plantation house."This is it?" Avery asked as we pulled up the long drive. "It's huge!""Nearly a hundred and fifty acres," I said.Avery parked the car and cut the engine. It didn't seem like anyone had been here since Dad and I had left, but I couldn't be sure."Ezra?"I looked down at the fresh pine box I held in my lap, pain as fresh as the wood gripped my chest. "Follow me," I said and climbed out of the car.I led the others around the house and
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 42
EZRAI stared out the window, taking in the pre-dawn light as the smell of coffee brewing grew stronger. There was a slight chill in the air, just enough to remind me that fall wasn't too far away. Hopefully, it wouldn't get too cold this winter. I wasn't so sure the heat would work without burning down the house.Taking in the dark aroma of coffee, I fought to keep it from turning into a sigh. John was already out in the garden, his thin frame hunched over working with the plants.After what happened in the warehouse with his father, and Nathan at the Ackland manor, he and I agreed that going back to his family was a bad idea. The Witches didn't handle betrayal well, and I didn't want to see what they'd do to John. But in the past few months that he had been staying with Avery and me, I'd noticed a change in him that certainly wasn't for the better.He was quieter and spent most of his time alone working outside around the house. The most s
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 43
EZRASitting on the window seat in Poe's office, I spent most of my afternoons thinking. I didn't really know what we were supposed to do next. I'd put the call out to the lost children, but all I could do now was wait. Would they answer the blood call, not knowing what it was? Or what it meant?I closed the book I wasn't reading and set it down. Who was I kidding? Even if they came, what made me their leader? The jackpot of genetics?Rubbing at the scar on my hand, I looked out through the window to the forest. Poe would have known what I needed to do, but all I had left of him were the journals he'd kept when he was Head of the Reinhardt family.While there was wisdom there, it didn't really apply to what I was facing now. I still had a lot to learn, and I knew that Dad and even Avery, who'd been working under her father for a year before he'd passed away, were here to help me. But the more I read the journals, the more it se
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 44
JOHNI sat on the covered porch, waiting for the rain to pass, thinking about the last time I'd seen it rain this hard.The smell of coffee filled the air as I stood in line at the local brew shop with Frankie, my older sister. She was my closest sibling, but that may have had something to do with the fact that she'd practically raised me."I don't get why they're so hard on me," I complained. "Mom has you to follow her in Air, and Dad has Chelle and Tasha as Fire elementals. Why are they so bent on me being a part of this?"Frankie wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "It's because you're the youngest and the only boy. They want to make sure you're included, and as different as you are, they're trying to find some way to connect with you."Terror filled me and I turned sharply to her. "You don't think they know-"She smiled sadly. "As often as they ask me if you've mentioned hanging out with any girls recently, I'
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JOHNEasing myself down onto my air mattress, I stared at the ceiling. What would Frankie do? What would she say to me right now?She'd have some freakishly supportive and sweet encouragement, but for the life of me, I was having trouble remembering what her voice sounded like.I reached over and grabbed my phone from the stack of books I used as a nightstand. I powered it on and opened the photos app, flipping through until I came to the one of me and Frankie at her birthday dinner. We'd gone out with Mom and our sisters, but Dad couldn't make it, as usual. Frankie had pulled her highlighted hair back into a cute braid that was nearly impossible to do without a touch of air magic. She was always so fashionable.My fingers itched to call her, my heart aching for a chance to hear her voice. Frankie had been my rock, my anchor through all the rough patches with my parents, all the times D
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JOHNIt was quiet in the car. Hunter seemed deep in thought. I wrestled with what I should say to break the silence, or if I should even break it in the first place. Hunter spared me the trouble."Ezra explained it to me," he said. "About the witches and how you had saved his life."I glanced at him briefly before turning my attention back to the road. "Yeah?""I can't say I understand it all or any of it for that matter," Hunter continued. "But what I do understand is that you're a good guy."I ignored the hot feeling coming from my ears. In the long run, it shouldn't matter what he thought of me, but somehow it did."So, where do you want me to drop you off?" I asked, changing the subject. I looked at him, and just caught the hint of a smile as he turned back to face the window."The Arboretum on the north side of town; my dad is a botanist there. He helps maintain the greenhouses, but his t
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 47
I stepped out into the lobby alone, glancing around as I headed for the exit. The place was busier, the early afternoon crowd filled the atrium with noise.There were Witches everywhere now, all dressed to blend in with the crowd, but I could see them. I felt their power, just as I had Cameron's.The familiar crackle of air magic hum around me. It was my mother, she was looking for me. I knew, from all my wild childhood days, that if I tried to run now the air would solidify, holding me in place.Scanning the crowd the best I could, I caught sight of her stepping out from behind a pillar, her own eyes searching. She hadn't changed. Her hair was still dyed copper to cover the grey strands she'd fought with as long as I could remember. Her pants suit wasn't one that I recognized, but it looked crisp and new. Clothes had always been one of her obsessions.I slowed my pace but kept walking, praying with each step that the Coven would concentrate on me and not
Necromancer's Legacy Chapter 48
EZRA I tightened the last screw and stepped back. Now for the test. Bending down, I removed the brick I'd placed to hold the back door open as I worked on it. This time, instead of slamming shut like it had all summer, the spring caught and it closed gently. Like it was supposed to do. "That's right," I said, smiling. It was the little victories that kept me going some days. Gathering up the tools, I thought I heard a car on the other side of the house. Avery opened the newly fixed screen door. "Hunter's here, but he's alone. He's got your car." There was a thread of worry in her voice. "What?" That didn't make sense. I set the tools aside and followed Avery through the house. Hunter was coming in through the front door when we entered the foyer. He caught the door, pulling it shut behind him. "Where's John?" I asked. The look on Hunter's face made the bottom fall out of my stomach. "With h
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EZRA I stepped out onto the deserted street, looking both ways. Plowed snow had been pushed aside into small mountains on the edge of the sidewalks. Steam rose from manhole covers, a car rolled past at the end of the street. I'd never been to New York City before, and even with all my traveling between the worlds, I'd never seen a city like this. Vasco shifted his weight on my shoulder, and let out a soft caw. "It's alright," I said, reaching up to steady him. The crow-like demon had nearly doubled his size since I'd first found him weeks ago. Now, he was nearly the same as a full-grown raven. I hoped he didn't get too much larger, or carrying him around on my shoulder was going to be a problem in a number of different ways. "Settle." Taking a deep breath of the cold air, I focused on the last of my missing family, turned, and started walking. I'd wanted to do this weeks ago. I needed to have it done months ago. But things kept getting in the way. I turned a corner, pulling my jac
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HENRYEverything was harder back then. I was young and naive, and I didn't get along well with the other children my age. I remembered the day when everything changed, even though it was years ago nothing could make me forget. The day had started like any other. There was morning work to do on my family's patch of land but by the time the afternoon sun was burning up her head, I'd slipped into the woods. Often, I tried to find a hollow or a stream to explore on my own, just to avoid the others, but the peace never lasted long.I was not favored among the small group of my peers. I was the smallest of the boys, and therefore I was usually the one most picked on. Francis had a flair for creating games that often ended in me being humiliated for the other's enjoyment. And everyone had always had a good laugh. Except for Mary. She was nicer and would try to defend me when she could.But that day was different. Most of the others had trave
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JOHNBreaking the surface of the water, I gasped for breath before pushing back my hair. The stone room was brighter than before. Brackets were added to the cave walls while we were gone, allowing more torches for light. And that wasn't the only change. The monks of the Temple had added more storage chests, another bench, and a rug. There was even a table and chairs. And yet, despite the attention to detail, it still felt off. Wrong.I felt wrong.Sinking into the water's embrace again, I concentrated on the way it drew the feeling of death from my body, the way it tried to leech the chill that had set into my bones. The night had been long, our escape from the camp nearly flawless, or so I overheard Benji tell Ezra.I was like I was disconnected from reality. I could remember parts of the last six hours. Hunter pulling me away from the greenhouse. Anissa fighting hand to hand with a witch I didn't recognize. Going through Benj
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EzraLiam could have dropped an 'F' bomb and caused less shock than that sentence. I glanced at my Dad. His expression was stern.This wasn't right, Liam going against Dad. What the hell had happened to him while we were gone? What nonsense had Nathan convinced him of now? Thinking of the war camp on the other side, waiting for Nathan to bring them over, the Gods only knew what that mad man wanted to do next."Oh, don't look so worried, Ezra. I've plans for you, too," Liam said, bringing my attention back to him.Kastem growled and was echoed by another roll of thunder. The wind was howling through the trees now, and it was only a matter of time before the rain fell with force."I'm not worried about that," I lied to him. "I'm just trying to figure out what I'm supposed to tell Mom."Surprise flickered over Liam's features. He lifted the knife and pointed it at me. "You won't be telling her anything."Before I could figure out what to
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JOHNMy power spread from one plant to the next as it wove its way through the connected root system. Then, like a wave of death, the plants shriveled and fell, decayed and useless, to the earth in a spreading circle around me."No!"My father's scream echoed through the plastic enclosure."John!" Hunter's voice was a relief to hear. In my rush to grab the plants, I hadn't cared about the roar or what had pulled my Dad off me. Now, I could clearly see as I sat up, Mai, Hunter's panther-like demon growling over my father."Are you hurt?" Hunter knelt down in the dirt next to me, reaching to help me up.Shaking my head, I took stock of myself. Besides the dirt on my hands and clothes, and the relative trauma of physically fighting my dad, I was fine. I still had the power Poe had given me. Still could feel the essence of the plants I'd killed.In the skin of my hands, the dark designs appeared, the swirling patterns tracing their way up
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EZRAThe portal opened exactly where I'd pictured John earlier. Unfortunately, it'd taken longer than I'd wanted to get everyone together. Hunter and Benji stepped through first, then Dad, Anissa, and Tessa. Once the six of us were through, I closed the portal down and looked around, trying to get a bearing of where we were and which way John had gone."It's too dark. I don't see anything," Benji commented.Hunter didn't waste time, summoning his demon there on the spot. Anissa and Tessa did the same. I focused first on which way John had gone, knowing he still had to be here, and sure enough, as soon as I'd opened up to my power, he was there on the web, easy enough to find now that I knew what to look for."He's east of here, not too far-"I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I was tempted to leave it, but the thought of Avery home with our moms and as well as Thea and Kaylee had me pulling it out of my pocket. If there
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JOHNThe forest was dark as ink as I came through the portal. I'd opened it right on the edge of the camp I'd spent many summers at when I was younger. Camp Meadow Creek was a compound of over one hundred acres in the Cumberland mountains outside of Louisville.In front of me were the main entrance, the Community Hall, and the fifteen smaller cabins the earth witch trainees stayed in when they were here.The main area was lit up with outdoor lighting attached to the buildings, showing off the yard. Memories made me pause. The hot summers eating popsicles on the lake dock. That time I fell off the top bunk and sprained my wrist. The first time I made a tree grow from a pine cone to a full towering pine in a matter of minutes. The nostalgia rocked me hard, but it was all bittersweet now. The friendships, the lessons I'd learned. They all seemed tainted by what I knew now.A whisper of feeling brushed by, and I turned, expecting E
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EZRAThe house was quieter when we returned. Benji and the others had yet to come back, but I found Kaylee and Thea curled up together on the couch in a nest of blankets with the baby demon between them. Kaylee had offered to look after it while we investigated Lyssa's house and I'd let her.It chirped softly at me, flapping its wings in a way that could only be described as a 'pick me up' motion. I obliged, before the demon decided it was upset and screeched."Shh," I whispered to it, cradling it in my arms. There was no need to wake the entire house."William, is that you?" Mom's voice called softly from the kitchen. Avery and I followed Dad as he went to find Mom. Her eyes watered as soon as she set eyes on us, as if she already knew what we'd found."How bad is it?" Mom whispered."We think Nathan took her-""No, we're p
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JOHNThere was none of the dizzy vertigo like when I travelled through Ezra or Benji's portal. It was more like a long step through a doorway that led me right back where I was only weeks ago. The freshly cut grass left a thick scent in the air that brought back many memories of family barbecues and parties.I turned back to the portal. Cameron and the other Witches still appeared awestruck, but Hunter looked as though he wanted to jump through after me, the pain clear on his unhappy face."I'm sorry," I said, and shut down the portal.My chest throbbed. Part of me had wanted Hunter to come, because I didn't want to face this alone. What if we were caught? On my own, I would at least have a chance to escape again, but after what'd happened after they'd caught Ezra, they probably would kill Hunter on the spot.Facing the house, I distracted myself by focusing on the details. New cushions covered the patio furniture and ne
