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Chapter 54
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2024-10-29 19:42:56EZRA
The chair protested as I leaned back. I sat at the dining room table with Avery, Hunter, and the twins. Tessa and Anissa were talking to Avery in soft tones at the at the end of the table. I smiled a little as Avery bit back a yawn.
It was getting late, but none of us seemed ready to sleep. Hunter especially. I glanced at him over the rough farmhouse table as he continued to fidget with his fork, but he hadn't touched any of his food.
Leaning forward again to rest on my elbows on the table, I put my face in my hands. This hurry-up and wait mentality ate at me and my resolve. I needed to be doing something. Anything. But what was left that we hadn't done already?
The wind picked up, coming through the opened windows bringing the smell of rain with it. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
"How did you and John meet? I don't think he told me," Hunter asked, drawing my attention back to him.
I laughed. "We were colle
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EZRAI stared at John for a split second, while I tried to process his words. Then it was all action. Pushing John to the side, I started another portal, this one to the first place I could think of that would be safe."Everyone goes through," I said, feeling the magic take root on the other side. The portal opened again, this time showing the house I'd grown up in, perched on top of the Stanwood mountain, way up in the Blue Ridge mountains. "Grab what you can quickly and go.""Where is that?" Tessa asked, hefting up one of her own bags they'd left by the front door."My parent's house," I said, stepping to the side. "You'll be safe there until I get back to you."That brought Avery to a halt. "You're not coming with us?"I shook my head and tried not to focus on the fear in her eyes. "No, I've got to get something out of the office.""Then let's get it together," she pleaded."There's no time for th
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JOHNThe swirling vertigo of traveling through the portal almost did me in. My stomach revolted, threatening to turn itself inside out and leave me heaving. For a brief moment, I was thankful that it was empty.My arm burned and the fire from the wound was spreading, consuming me. I clutched the dart in my hand, remembering that I'd pulled it from my arm as soon as I could, but obviously, I wasn't quick enough."Ezra!"Avery's shout cut through my thoughts. I forced myself to look up. We were through the portal, the Stanwood house a blur in the background, but I recognized it from the few times I visited with Ez over the summer.Another set of hands lifted my injured arm causing me to gasp, my vision all but blacking out completely."What happen?!" Hunter said next to me. His hands carefully transferred my weight from Ezra's side to his. The clean linen scent of his shirt a comfort that I wasn't expecting.
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EZRAThe humidity was the first thing I noticed. There was also something sharp biting into my palm. I was on my hands and knees in the dirt. Both Avery and Mom were hovering over me, their voices a blur."Hasim!"Tamner's voice broke through the fog and I glance up to see the old man walking as quickly as he could towards us through the village. I'd managed to bring us through right on the edge of the huts."John," I said, lifting my head up more and sitting back on my heels. "He's hurt," I told the old man.Tamner turned, heading right over to where Hunter held John upright. Dad held a hand out and helped me to my feet. Suon and the Chief of the village appeared then, from the other side of the line of huts."Hasim," Suon said, raising a hand in greeting. "Many blessings to see Hasim.""Thanks, it's awesome to see you, too," I said, brushing the dirt from my hands. My muscles ached. Tamner led Hunter and
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JOHNI opened my eyes and found the ceiling above me familiar, but I had trouble placing it. My body ached, all the way down to my bones, and to the point that I was afraid to move. I rolled my head to the side, casting a lazy glance around the room I was in, and quickly realized that I wasn't at Ezra's.Tamner was grinding something in a stone bowl on the other side of the fire, his form wavering the heat. Noise from next to me caused me to turn, and I found Hunter sitting, his back leaning against the rough packed dirt wall. A pose I'd seen Ezra in so many times when we were last here with Poe.Hunter's eyes were closed, dark circles under them standing out in the light from the fire."He worries for your health," Tamner said softly, coming closer to me with the stone bowl. "First he sleep since you came. Day before last."I turned back to Tamner. "That long?"
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EZRAI stared at the fire in front of me, feeding small sticks to it, poking at the logs with the longer one. It hadn't taken us long to get settled into a routine with the village. The older grandmothers and ladies of the village had taken Mom under their wings. The language barrier was nothing as they showed her how they cooked, the herbs they gathered from the jungle that surrounded them, and how they kept all the men in line as Mom liked to put it.Anissa and Tessa had fallen in with the warriors like they'd always been a part of the village; training with them, joking and even fending off some friendly advances from the more eligible bachelors.Dad split his time between the Chief's hut and me. We didn't talk much when he and I sat together. In the first few days, I'd told him about my experiences here in the village - first with just Poe during my Test, and then later as Poe and I had escaped from the
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JOHNI sat in Tamner's hut, digging through my backpack. Avery had been kind enough to hold onto it for me, making sure to bring it through the portal with everyone else's. I thought briefly of opening one of the packets of dried fruit but decided against it. I'd save it for later.It had taken two more days of rest before Ezra and the others were ready to leave. I, on the other hand, was still weak and unsteady on my feet. I wouldn't mention it to them, though. I didn't want to hold them back, and I was anxious to get moving despite my weakness."Here," Tamner said, ducking in from outside. The old man held a tall staff, similar to the one that Suon had given Ez the last time we left the village. Of course, he knew I was wobbly on my feet. He may be old and have a hard time with English, but nothing got past him. "Use this to stay up. Keep balance."The length was cut from dark wood, like ebony, with a portion of the top wrapp
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EZRAWe'd been walking for a few hours, following Suon on a thin trail through the dense jungle. I was towards the back of the line, only a pair of warriors walking behind me, with my eyes focused ahead on John. He leaned heavily on the staff he carried, not completely steady on his feet as he had assured me earlier in the day.I turned, speaking briefly to the warriors in their language the little that Suon had taught me in the past few days. The younger of the two nodded, and took off, running ahead to relay my message to Suon.Quickening my pace, I caught up with John. Sweat beaded on his forehead, gathering in his hair enough to make it look wet along his hairline. He glanced at me but didn't say anything. I wasn't sure he could with how hard as he was breathing."Let's slow down a bit," I suggested. "We'll be stopping for a break soon anyway."He gave me a dark look. "I don't need any special treatment.""I d
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JOHNThe demon slammed into to me with the force of a train, taking me to the ground and forcing the air from my lungs. I didn't have time to think, just react as I pushed the staff between us, struggling to keep its gaping mouth and sharp teeth away from my face. Pain flared across my chest as its claws sank into the front of my shoulders. Desperately, I reached for my magic, straining against the invisible wall that separated me from it.Someone was screaming and it took me a moment to realize that it was me.The demon froze, its muscles quivering at the sudden lack of motion, its attention focused above me out in the thick of the jungle. Seconds passed, my heart beating painfully against my sternum as I fought against the demon's weight to breathe.Like a giant pissed off cat, it hissed at whatever it saw before it turned tail and ran, bounding off in a different direction altogether.I stared off after it for one dis
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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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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
