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Chapter 8
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2024-10-29 19:42:56A cool hand was wrapped around my own. That was the first thing I noticed. The second was how much I hurt. Everywhere.
I opened my eyes, thankful that it was dark, but confused when I found myself staring up at the ceiling of my own room. My body felt too hot, stifling under the blankets that were piled on top of me.
"Ezra?" Mom's voice was just a whisper from the foot of my bed, but her eyes were bright with relief when I looked down at her. She clutched at the foot board, trying hard to stay quiet.
"Mom," I said, my voice weak. "What happened?"
Avery stirred next to me. She was sitting in my desk chair and had slumped over the side of the bed, asleep. It was her hand that was wrapped around my own.
She opened her eyes, and they reminded me of something. Something that had happened.
"Your test, it took too long, the others began to think that..." Mom paused a brief moment, then forced herself to continue. "That maybe you didn't make it. But
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I followed Poe through the door. The heat hit me immediately. I strained to see the tops of the trees that stood like giants around me. I was in a jungle, but where?Poe was perched on a bush not far to my left. His dark feathers standing out like a thorn against its bright flowers."There you are!"I whipped around to see a girl, tiny and delicate, stepping out of the undergrowth with a spear. She wore a wrap of bright orange, like a monk's almost. But even though the color was vibrant, her expression of suppressed fear and urgency was what really startled me."You're talking to me?" I asked her looking around.She nodded. "Come, my people need you." She motioned for me to follow her, and even took my hand when I hesitated, dragging me forward. "Come, Come!"I followed her as she ran barefoot through the jungle, barely able to keep up with her. Poe glided over us, never too far from my sight. We came around a large root of the tree on a hil
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I told them everything, not holding back anything more other than the fact that Poe had changed his form. The elder Heads of the Family shared another look in the silence that followed. It only made me more nervous."He described the lost family's power perfectly," Lyssa said, looking to my father. "Could it really be possible that your son was chosen to revive the Reinhardt line?""How do we know he isn't making all of this up?" Nathan argued.Lyssa stepped in front of him before I even had a chance to defend myself. "You were in diapers when the last of the Reinhardts were killed. How do you know he's lying? You forget that the Emersons worked closely with our lost brothers and sisters. I saw their powers first hand. And that description Ezra just gave was to the T."Nathan's gaze iced over as he held his ground. "I must see this to believe it."My father studied the two of them before turning to me. "I hate to ask this of you while you are still
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I stayed in bed for nearly a week, focusing on resting. I talked to Poe once we were alone, but he acted as he always had, like a bird. It got to the point where I wondered if I'd just imagined him as a human. Maybe I'd even imagined it all. But the pendant I wore told me differently, and I could feel the Talent pulse along my skin, spreading like a burning rash."Are you sure you feel alright?" Mom asked for about the billionth time, while I shrugged on my coat. I'd considered leaving it behind, but settled for keeping it unzipped. Sweat beaded on my forehead and I wiped it away impatiently."I'm fine," I groaned, ignoring the slight tremble in my hand as I reached for the door handle. Okay, so I wasn't a hundred percent, but if I had to listen to her fawn over me all day again, I was going to scream; in that girly, horror film kinda way.Mom followed me to the porch to wish Avery and her family a safe trip. The snow glare was bright and hurt my eyes, but the c
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For two weeks, I walked up to the Vault every day to study with Poe. We concentrated on meditation until my strength fully returned, and then, slowly, I started working on accessing my Talent. The power had built up in my body over the weeks since my test, to the point my temperature hovered around 105 and I wore t-shirts and shorts on my walks even as the snow continued to fall on the mountain.Mom fretted at first, thinking I was going to catch my death, but after a while she left me alone. I didn't talk about what I did up there, only mentioning I was trying to figure out how my Talent worked. That seemed enough for them to leave me be. Things between my 'parents' and I had been different since my Test. And no one wanted to bring up the herd of elephants that had stampeded into the room.For my physical training, Poe started with the basics, some of which I'd already knew from my training with Dad and Liam from when I was younger. Necroma
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The next couple of weeks were mind-numbingly slow, but the time to leave for Avery's ceremony finally came. I packed lightly. A few changes of clothes, and almost as an afterthought, my cell-phone. I wasn't sure it'd be useful, but it'd never hurt to carry it. Dad and I set out a day or two before Mom and Liam. Mom had wanted to finish setting up the greenhouses for our week long trip away and Liam had offered to stay and help her.Dad, Poe, and I loaded up into my SUV and drove south as the sun rose up over the mountains. I drove first, taking us out of the Blue Ridge Mountains and into Gastonia where we stopped briefly before Dad took over driving for a bit. I felt anxious and nervous at the same time all because I was basically on my way to see my bride. After this ceremony, Avery and I would be as good as married in the eyes of our Families. I watched the road signs, mentally following the map of Interstate 85 as it headed southwest to where we'd have to switch to I20 in
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We made it to the Reinhardt property just as true darkness fell. The moon had just risen above the trees as Dad drove up the long gravel drive to the white plantation style house. It stood lonely in an empty field, the nearest trees thousands of feet away. He parked the car."Here we are, the Reinhardt Plantation."The house looked a little run down, but nothing some work couldn't fix. The large, floor-to-ceiling windows of the first floor were boarded up, along with the door.I climbed out of the car, and headed to the porch. The wooden boards creaked under my weight. Poe flew to my shoulder, giving a quiet caw as Dad approached with a flashlight to help me remove the boards before unlocking the doors.We stepped into the dusty foyer, surveying the grand staircase to the second floor that dominated the entry way. "Do all the families know about this place?" I asked."I'm sure th
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I shifted in my seat again, trying to get comfortable as I took the ramp off the interstate into the city the Mansers called home. We'd driven straight through from Georgia; Dad and I took turns at the wheel so we only had to stop to get gas and change driver."We're supposed to be there already, do you think they'd go ahead without us?" I asked, adjusting my grip on the steering wheel."Ezra, it'd be a little hard to do the ceremonies without Avery's betrothed. I'm sure they won't start without us," Dad said dryly."Right." I checked the map again, there was still a ways to go before we reached the Manser's ranch. "Ah, grab my cell phone out of my bag. You can call them.""Ezra-""Please?"He sighed, reaching into the backseat to pull my bag free of the boxes of books we'd piled in the backseat. "This thing?" he asked.I glanced over. He held my phone up. "Yes, Dad. That's a cell phone."He grinned at me and pressed the power
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We pulled onto the Manser ranch about noon. It was set in the outskirts of Austin, forty sprawling acres of mostly pasture for the horses they boarded. While the Stanwoods lived off the herbs and exotic plants we grew in the greenhouses and sold through mail-order, the Mansers made their living through horses.I parked next to all the other vehicles littering the grassy area in front of the large house. The front door opened as soon as we pulled into the driveway and Thea raced out to greet us, Mom and Avery not far behind."There you two are!" Mom said. "What took so long? I was out of my mind when Liam and I got here before you!"Dad swept her into a hug. "We just took a little detour. We're fine."She eyed him in a way that made me think he was going to get an earful about it later."Where have you been?" Avery rushed up to me, wrapping her arms around in me in a tight hug. "Everyone's here already! Even Nathan."I frowned. "I didn't thin
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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
