Something Witchy This Way Comes: A Jolie Wilkins Novel

  I couldn’t tell who was winning.

  “That’s why the camp hasn’t imploded yet,” Bryn said in a soft voice, shaking her head in apparent understanding.

  “We have to help her, Bryn,” I implored. “We have to make sure this camp doesn’t blow, or else every one of us is going to die.”

  She hesitated, and I realized again that she was, first and foremost, a Lurker. She’d spent the last thirty years of her life being brainwashed, and fully supported Luce. I could see it in her eyes.

  I took a deep breath. “I have to help Mercedes,” I said to Sinjin.

  Sinjin nodded and tightened his grip on Bryn’s arms, as if to say she wasn’t going anywhere. I smiled in silent understanding and started forward, knowing what I had to do. Mercedes needed me, and I hoped that together we could defeat Luce.

  When I was ten feet from them, I gulped down my fear, afraid of Luce’s power. I mean, I had no clue how powerful he truly was. But given that Mercedes was a force to be reckoned with too, I ignored my doubts as I approached them. Neither of them even noticed I was there. They were too wholly focused on each other. I closed my eyes and unleashed the power within me, allowing it to flow through my entire being until my skin tickled with magic and every hair on my body stood on end. Then I opened my eyes and concentrated on projecting my power into Mercedes. I imagined filling her up with my magic. As soon as I made figurative contact with her, the circle of flames that had burned around the two of them suddenly pulled me into its center. Instantly, I was overwhelmed with the feeling that something was wrong.

  When I saw Mercedes, I understood why. As soon as my power entered their circle, Mercedes had fallen to the ground, unconscious. Well, I hoped she was only unconscious. That was when it hit me—this was what Luce had been hoping for; Mercedes had just been a prop. Luce had orchestrated their power play, knowing that I would come to her defense, and now he had me exactly where he wanted me.

  “What have you done to her?” I screamed at him.

  He stood there in all his glory, his white hair sailing around him as if he were underwater. “Her power could not rival mine,” he replied. “Now make your decision wisely,” he added, meaning I could fight him or join him.

  “I will not allow you to destroy my people!” I shouted, wanting to cut to the chase. I was never going to join the Lurkers, and it was past time that he realized that.

  He shook his head. “You have proven to be such a disappointment.”

  Then he raised his hands toward me and I was suddenly overcome with a dull ache spreading through my body. Soon that dullness became an all-out throbbing that seemed to center in my middle, pumping pain through me.

  And then it hit me that he might be harming my baby. I clenched my eyes shut and called on all the power inside of me to fight him, to crush the tentacles of pain from my body. I could feel a glow building within me, repelling Luce’s power. And then a sense of calmness surrounded me, and I felt no pain at all.

  I opened my eyes.

  “Give them up, Jolie,” Luce said evenly. But his voice was ragged. My resistance had depleted some of his energy.

  “Give who up?” I demanded.

  “The people you call your own. You are not one of them. We are your true family.”

  I shook my head. “The creatures of the Underworld are my true family,” I insisted.

  Luce tsked me as if I were idiotic. “Your side is losing, my dear,” he said in as sweet a tone as he could muster, like he was trying to be my father. “Your wolves, witches, vampires, and fairies are no match for the Daywalkers or Elementals.”

  Six separate images suddenly appeared in the air directly before me—against a backdrop of misty clouds. I focused on one and recognized that it was a dreamscape of the battle raging in the camp—I could see an Elemental fighting one of my witches. The Elemental threw a fire orb into my witch, thrusting her backward. When she hit the ground, she erupted into an inferno of flames and rolled back and forth frantically, trying to put herself out. But it was no use. The fire raged out of control, spurred on by Elemental magic, and the witch succumbed. I felt my stomach drop as I glanced at the next cloud and the next, realizing they were all projections of battles. Somehow I knew that they were all going on at that exact moment. The more I watched, the more I realized Luce was right. The creatures of the Underworld were not as strong as the Lurkers.

  “Jolie, no!”

  I heard Rand’s voice behind me, but I knew better than to turn toward him. Luce would use the opportunity to blast me with his magic. I concentrated on opening the bond between us, thus fortifying our power. Together we would be much stronger. Immediately, I felt Rand’s response, and his side of our bond reaffirmed our connection, our mutual understanding.

  I would never give in to Luce, or anyone else for that matter, even if he was right and our soldiers were dropping like flies. All anyone had was his or her own fight, and I wasn’t going to allow Luce to win this one.

  I held out my hands again, throwing my power, now joined with Rand’s, into Luce. Of course, Luce pumped up his power too, and was suddenly much stronger than he had been. I realized that his last demonstration had been little more than a warm-up—a way of judging how much juice he’d need to defeat me.

  Don’t give up, Jolie, I heard Rand say in my head. Together, we can bring him down.

  I just focused all my power, all my magic, everything I had, into Luce. I could feel Rand’s abilities feeding into me. But it wasn’t enough. The empty space inside of me was growing at a faster rate than Rand could refuel it. I could feel my defenses weakening as exhaustion started to claim me. I scrunched my eyes tighter and imagined an orb of glowing light surrounding me as well as Rand. It was a defensive measure to create a buttress against Luce’s magic so I could focus on refueling my figurative magic tank.

  I didn’t have time to fully regroup before Luce attacked me with another onslaught of magic—sending heat flaring through me. I felt like I was being stabbed with thousands of knives. I focused on my orb, trying to strengthen it, but another blow of heat disabled me.

  Luce’s power was emptying me, and I dropped down to my knees, no longer able to stand. Was this what he’d done to Mercedes? Since she was still sprawled out on the ground next to me, I had to imagine it was.

  Out of the corner of my eyes I watched Sinjin lash out against Luce, as if trying to take him unawares. As soon as he entered the fiery circle around us, however, he started shaking violently, as if being electrocuted, and he had to take a step backward. He tried again, but the same thing happened. The circle was impenetrable, which meant that I was on my own.

  Jolie! Rand screamed through our bond.

  But I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t draw my attention away from Luce. Suddenly, I could no longer feel Rand’s power. It was almost as if his supply had been cut off. At the same time, Luce’s magic had gone quiet as well. I watched in horror as Luce lifted Rand into the air. Rand struggled to free himself, continuing to bombard Luce with an onslaught of his own magical defenses, but they paled in comparison with Luce’s power.

  “Let him go!” I screamed, pain seizing my voice.

  And then I felt something angry and protective start to stir within me. Gritting my teeth, I allowed my power to flow into Luce, in full attack mode. He took a few steps back and his assault on Rand stalled as Rand fell to the ground. He didn’t move. But I couldn’t devote any attention to him because I was once again on the receiving end of Luce’s magic. His attack had doubled in strength.

  Still too weak to stand, I pushed up onto my knees. I felt Luce’s power draining every inch of me, but I couldn’t feel any pain—refused to feel any pain. There was something powerful inside of me, and it would not back down. I wavered a bit before finding my balance.

  Forcing myself to my feet, I approached Luce, holding both hands up directly in front of me, using them like a shield to ward off his attack. I continued walking toward him, some inner force compelling me forward, tel
ling me that I could defeat him. I couldn’t give up, not now.

  I clenched my eyes shut and willed my power to double up on itself, throwing everything I had into him. But there was no response. I opened my eyes and discovered that Luce was gone. It was as if he’d disappeared into the air, or maybe the night had swallowed him.

  I took a deep breath and suddenly felt completely exhausted. I fell to my knees again, bending over as I braced myself with my hands. My light-headedness was seriously impeding me, and I took a few seconds to steady myself to ensure that I wouldn’t pass out. I opened my eyes once the feeling recessed and looked for Rand, who was lying prostrate on the ground. I crawled over to him. My heart was lodged in my throat as I gripped his face and leaned down. I placed my ear next to his nose to determine if he was still breathing.

  He was.

  Relief bloomed inside of me. I closed my eyes as I held my hands above his heart, pouring some of my energy and power into him through our bond.

  “Jolie,” he said softly, and I opened my eyes, smiling down at him as tears began to choke me. “What happened?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said softly. Then I felt Sinjin behind me. He lifted me up and pulled me into his arms.

  “Are you injured, my Queen?” he asked with a look of concern. I watched his gaze meet Rand’s, but neither of them said anything.

  I looked up into Sinjin’s ice blue eyes and nodded. Even though I tried to smile, all I could think about was the carnage and massacre I’d observed in Luce’s cloud images. “Get Mercedes,” I said simply, and Sinjin nodded.

  He set me down beside Rand as he approached Mercedes’ collapsed form.

  I watched Sinjin lift her. “Is she alive?” I asked in a hollow voice.

  He looked at her, then nodded. “She is breathing.”

  Relief flooded through me, but it was short-lived. I remembered with a jolt that the Lurker camp was about to implode on itself. “How do we stop it from blowing?” I demanded of Bryn, who was still standing in the spot where Sinjin had left her. She was gazing around in apparent shock, not saying or doing anything.

  “He’s gone,” she replied simply.

  “What does that mean?” I demanded.

  She shook her head as if she couldn’t make sense of anything that had just happened. “Whatever was going to happen has happened,” she said finally.

  Then I realized I couldn’t hear fighting anymore—there were no more magical bursts lighting up the sky, no war cries or howls coming from the weres. I started down the street so I could get a better visual. Everything was dead silent. But the longer I watched, the more casualties I could see—in the form of lumps on the ground. I glanced up and noticed an outline of people along the horizon. Most were limping or carrying others, but they were all slowly approaching us. As they came nearer, I realized that they were my own people. As for the Elementals and the Daywalkers? I had no clue.

  One of our werewolves approached me with a shocked look.

  “What is it? What’s happened?” I demanded.

  The were shook his head, as if he didn’t even know where to begin. “They all just … disappeared. Right there in front of us. We were fightin’ and then they … disappeared like the air swallowed ’em up.”

  At the sound of footsteps, I turned around and faced Sinjin and Bryn. “What does this mean?” I asked her.

  She refused to answer. I didn’t know if she was keeping it to herself or if she just didn’t have an answer for me. I had no clue why she hadn’t disappeared with the rest of her people, but was grateful all the same because Bryn was now my prisoner.

  Taking a deep breath, I turned around and found Rand smiling down at me. And that was when it hit me. The battle was over for now. The Lurkers had given up, and maybe that alone made us the victors. At that point I didn’t even think it mattered.

  I smiled at Sinjin. “Rally our soldiers,” I ordered. “And tell them we’re going home.”

  As I stood in my living room and admired the view from my windows, I had never been happier to see the beauty of the craggy coastline of Kinloch Kirk, to witness the puffins flying in and out of the hillside, feeding their babies. The heather appeared even more purple against the bright blue of the sky, and the ocean air refreshed me with its bold saltiness.

  I was home.

  “You wished to speak with me, my Queen?” Mathilda’s voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned to face her, smiling as she held her arms out and I rushed into them. Mathilda, as the oldest of the fae, had waited out the battle in a fae village near Kinloch Kirk.

  “I am so happy to see you,” I said, and kissed her cheek. It had only been a matter of hours since the battle, and even though I was exhausted, questions about my lineage continued to plague me. Enough that I had decided to solve it here and now.

  “Are you well?” she asked, still smiling.

  “I’m fine, Mathilda,” I said, and motioned her toward the couch. She took a seat, and I sat down beside her, holding her old and weathered hands in mine.

  “And Mercedes?” Mathilda continued.

  I took a deep breath. Mercedes had come very close to death. Luce had done his utmost to drain her of all her powers, and even though she was alive, it was going to be a long road to recovery. “She’s lost the use of her powers,” I said softly.

  Mathilda nodded. “I have seen similar cases before. We will buffer her with our own power each day until she is well enough to develop her magic again.”

  I nodded and took relief in her words. I mean, I knew Mercedes was eventually going to improve, I just wasn’t sure if she’d regain all her abilities. And that was a sobering thought—as long as I’d known Mercedes, I’d always been amazed by her abilities, by her magic. And yet Luce had made such short work of her.

  Really, there was nothing more I could do for Mercedes, and worrying about her wasn’t going to do anyone any good. All I could do was hope that Mathilda was right. I returned my attention to the subject that had been plaguing me. “Mathilda, I want you to tell me about my birth parents,” I said, my tone hopeful.

  Mathilda’s expression fell and she looked surprised. She glanced down at her old fingers as if she wasn’t sure where she should begin her story. When she looked up at me again, her eyes were glassy. “The Lurkers told you?” she asked.

  I nodded and explained everything Luce had said to me, including the part about Bryn being my sister … and now my prisoner. She was being held in the guest quarters of Kinloch Kirk, where Bella had met her end. I wasn’t sure what would happen between Bryn and me. Even though we were sisters, there was a rift between us that seemed irreparable. From the moment I’d taken her as my POW, she refused to speak to me. And furthermore, she insisted that she would forever remain true to Luce. Even so, I continued to hold out hope that someday we might mend the gap between us and just be … sisters.

  “Your mother was my grandniece,” Mathilda started, and at the look of surprise on my face, she took my hand. “She was a lovely girl, Jolie, so similar to you in appearance and character.”

  “What was her name?” I asked, my voice sounding hollow, pained, as I fought to understand who my mother was.

  “Keila,” she said, and her eyes took on a faraway expression, as if she were remembering my mother when she was still alive. After a few seconds Mathilda seemed to return to the present and she smiled at me apologetically. “She had the great misfortune of falling in love with a man not of her own species.”

  “Then it was true, my father was a Lurker?” I said, my voice sounding stony.

  Mathilda nodded. “Yes. There was a raid on one of our villages and many of the fae were killed. Others were abducted, and Keila was one of them.”

  I sighed deeply, realizing Mathilda’s account paralleled Luce’s so far. “Luce told me that my father fell in love with my mother while she was his prisoner.”

  “Yes,” Mathilda said with a sweet smile. “Your father was quite taken with Keila.” Her ey
ebrows arched as she turned to another thought. “It was perhaps six months before we saw Keila again. When your father fell in love with her, the others rejected them and they sought shelter from us. Of course we willingly took them in. We believed your father to be a good man.”

  “Even though he’d raided your village?” I asked, surprised.

  Mathilda nodded. “Your father begged our forgiveness, said he had atoned for his ways. And in the end we believed him. People have it within themselves to change, to atone for their mistakes.” She took a deep breath. “Your father and mother lived happily among our kind for perhaps a year. When your mother learned she was with child, your father was so excited, Jolie. I remember his smile as if it were only yesterday.”

  I ran my hand across my stomach, reminding myself of my own baby and the fact that I too would be a parent. And a feeling of deep contentment welled up inside of me. There was nothing I’d ever wanted more than to be a mother, and a wife to Rand. “Go on.”

  “Your father died shortly thereafter.”

  I felt the breath catch in my throat as a feeling of deep sadness settled in my gut, replacing the balmy happiness I’d felt only moments before. “What did he die from?”

  Mathilda shrugged. “No one knew for certain. It was quite a mystery, though I have always been certain that he was killed by the Lurker elder.”

  “Luce,” I said out loud, hating his name on my lips.

  She nodded. “Of course I have no proof, but it seemed a strange coincidence for the poor young man to die when he was so very happy.”

  “And my mother?”

  Mathilda nodded as if reminding herself of where she’d left off in her story. “Shortly after your father’s death, your mother was overcome with such sorrow that she simply went mad. She became a threat to herself and to you, her unborn child.”

  “To us,” I corrected, thinking of Bryn. “There were two of us, Bryn and me.”

  Mathilda nodded and frowned as she shook her head. “Yes, two.” She paused for a moment. “I never did realize Keila was pregnant with twins. How foolish of me not to have checked.”