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Chapter 44
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2024-10-29 19:42:56JOHN
I 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
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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
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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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JOHN Two of mother's guards boarded the plane before me. I followed them up the plane's little fold-up stairs and into the main cabin of the small private jet. It was one of three owned by the Coven. I knew that only as the child of two high-ranking officials since my Mom and Dad were always traveling for Coven business. It wasn't laid out like a commercial plane with the rows and rows of seats, but more like what you'd see a billionaire traveling around on in the movies. There was a long couch, a couple of small tables that had sets of four seats with each of them. There was a man on board already, besides the pilot and single stewardess. He was standing in the back, out of the way, but I recognized him just fine. Dr. Knight was a spirit witch and my family's physician. Already, I didn't like where this was going. "Hey, John," he said, as the two guards in front of me found seats. I nodded at him and chose a seat over th
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JOHNAs the driver pulled the car up my family's driveway, I was surprised by how much I wanted to be anywhere else but here. Even being back at Nathan's house in California facing another demon seemed like a better idea than what I was about to deal with.What if Nathan told the Coven about me? I don't think he knew my name, but if he were to see me - it'd be game over, wouldn't it?No, he's been masquerading as a witch. I had just as much- No, I had more to blackmail him with. He had much more to lose by being outed than I did. I stared at the home I'd grown up in and realized that it was no longer 'home' to me. There wasn't a place connected to that word anymore.As the car came to a stop, the front door to the colonial style house opened. Frankie rushed down the front steps, her hair flying out behind her like a banner. Once I was free from the car, she slammed into me with a force that pushed the air from my lungs.
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EZRAI followed the dirt path, walking out into the trees nearby to where the Reinhardt cemetery was hidden in the trees. I fought the anger that rose in me. How? How had they found John after all this time? It bothered me to no end. We'd gone months without a hint from them, and now, they just swooped in and grabbed him without so much as a warning.So much for facing his troubles together. I leaned back against a tree and slid to the ground. The sky was growing darker by the moment, the fireflies blinking among the headstones.Toying with a small stick, I dug into the earth. Was this really the best course of action? Waiting on word from the Hedge witches about John. Waiting on the other remaining Reinhardts to find their way back. Should I have tried to track the lost children down, instead of calling them home?I was so incredibly lost. Were we really waiting here or had I just stalled with my inability to make a decision?
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JOHNI felt trapped in my room, but I didn't feel like facing any of my family downstairs. I didn't know what to say, other than what seemed like the obvious. That I didn't want to be here. That Ezra hadn't kidnapped me. That I hadn't been in danger when they'd 'rescued' me. But that wasn't going to do any sort of good. Not now.Standing at my window, I looked over my plants on the sill, nudging them with my magic, caring for them as I had the plants at Ez's place all summer. From the way Frankie had acted, I was beginning to think my family thought I was traumatized. If they only knew the half of it. It may have made trying to explain things to them a little simpler.There was a soft knock on my door and I looked towards it as it opened. Chelle poked her head in. "Hey, dinner's ready-"I turned back to my plants. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry.""Oh," she said. "Why not come down anyway? We could talk about what you missed
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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
