The Complete Spellbound Trilogy Bundle

  Ana pressed her lips together. “We’ve decided to take the matter to the Council to see what course of action they recommend. This shouldn’t be left up to us.”

  “But I need to know. Is there really no hope for him?”

  She sighed. “It’s impossible to tell. Normally I’d say no. But I can’t help but wonder…”

  I caught my breath. “Wonder what?”

  “I shouldn’t be saying this. I don’t want to get your hopes up. Most likely he won’t be able to be saved, and he’ll have a long, hard road ahead of him.”

  “Tell me what you’re thinking,” I begged. If there was any chance at all…

  “I don’t even know if it would be a factor. But because Justin has actually been exposed to magic his entire life…it’s in his blood, even though he was unaware…I can’t help but wonder if his case will be different than that of a normal human.”

  I set down my mug with a clunk. “Do you really think so?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Now, I said not to get your hopes up. This is pure speculation on my part. If he was an ordinary human boy, I’d say his chances were close to zero. But since he is…unique…perhaps there is a chance that he might react more favorably to the memory modification.”

  I slumped back down in my chair. That didn’t seem like much of a chance. But it was something. In my opinion, the memory removal spell was nothing short of a lobotomy.

  “So we won’t know for sure how the spell is going to affect him until after it’s done. And by then it may be too late,” I muttered.

  “That is why I urged you not to get your hopes up,” Ana said quietly. “We can hope for a favorable outcome, but we certainly can’t count on it.

  I let out a long sigh and slowly shook my head. “This sucks.”

  She looked at me, her eyes filled with compassion. “I know it does, Calista. It’s hard to watch the ones we love suffer. And even more difficult when there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  We sat there in silence, lost in our own thoughts as we sipped our hot drinks and gazed out at the turbulent waves pounding on the rocky cliffs.

  Chapter 11. Before the Storm

  Nicholas held my hand as we strolled in silence toward the end of the pier. The yellow crystal sun kissed the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant orange and pink. It was a moment perfect for romance, but all I could feel was distress. Ana’s confirmation this morning that Justin’s predicament was nearly hopeless had filled me with guilt and remorse.

  “Why so quiet?” Nicholas murmured as we reached the end of the long wooden dock. He gave my hand a light squeeze and wrapped his arm around my waist. Together, we gazed out at the pastel sky and choppy waters. Cool ocean breezes caressed our faces, and I relished the feel of Nicholas’s warm body close to mine.

  “I’m just really upset about the situation with Justin. I mean, here I thought all that needed to happen was have him cured of the Gypsy curse. And by some miracle—because of you—it happened. But now, it’s like we just opened up a whole new can of worms. He’s going to suffer even more. And I can’t stop feeling like it’s all my fault.”

  Fortunately Nicholas was standing behind me and couldn’t see the tears forming in my eyes. But he wasn’t fooled. He stroked the side of my face and pressed his cheek to mine. “Callie, you have to stop blaming yourself. You did everything you could to help him. Not everything is within your control, or is your responsibility—”

  “I think they should leave him alone,” I whispered. “I don’t think he’ll go crazy. Why can’t they just wait and see how he is before trying to do some risky spell on him? And I’m sure he’ll keep his mouth shut about all he knows. Why would he want to make himself sound like a lunatic?”

  “I dunno,” Nicholas murmured in my ear. “I think maybe the people affected don’t have a choice.”

  Suddenly, a horrific thought crossed my mind. I spun around to face him. “Did you know?” I gasped, my eyes narrowed as I studied him. “Did you know this would happen to him…that this was a possibility?”

  The moment the words were out of my mouth I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my chest. It took several seconds of looking into Nicholas’s wounded eyes before it hit me that it wasn’t my pain I was feeling—it was his.

  “No, Calista. I actually didn’t know this would happen. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen…just that I’ve never been faced with this particular dilemma before. I’d assumed Ana’s coven would be able to handle the fallout. I’m sorry…I assumed incorrectly—”

  I let out a deep sigh and shook my head. “No…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s no more your fault than it is mine.”

  “I hate to see you like this.” Nicholas tilted my chin up and gazed deep into my eyes. “I hate to see you hurting. The whole time I was away with Justin, the one thing that kept me going was thinking how happy you’d be when I—we—returned. It was worth the risk and danger. But now it seems I’ve only made things worse for you.”

  “Okay, that’s it. We have to stop doing this to ourselves. This isn’t your fault…or mine,” I insisted. “We both did what we thought was right. We both had the best intentions, and neither of us is to blame for any complications.”

  Nicholas leaned down and kissed me gently. I smiled up at him.

  “…But that’s not going to stop me from trying to save him.”

  *****

  During dinner that evening, I told my dad I had a lot of reading to do before school started back up in a few days, and would be spending the rest of the evening locked away in my room. I didn’t like lying to him, but I needed to make sure I had privacy. Tonight was going to be very interesting, and I wasn’t exactly sure how it was all going to go down. I didn’t want to take any chances.

  “Not like you to leave school stuff ‘till the last minute like this,” he said, scrutinizing me. “You shore everything’s awright with ya? You’ve been kinda distracted lately, like your mind is always half-someplace else.”

  “I’m fine,” I reassured him. “I just wanted to take a break from school work during my vacation, and now, I need to get back at it.”

  “You got boys on the brain?” he asked and stabbed at his green beans.

  I nearly choked on my lemonade. Uh, actually yeah, Dad, I do. I’m really worried about the fact that my one guy friend, who is a Witch-Hunter cursed by Gypsies to kill maiden witches like myself, might have his brain turned to mush soon. And my warlock boyfriend who might know dark magic is going to magically shimmer over here in a few minutes to help me figure out a plan so said Hunter friend won’t try to kill me, Lily, and Sophie. Yeah…you could say I got boys on the brain.

  “No. Just gotta do some reading.”

  “Good. You too smart for boys anyways. They ain’t nothin’ but trouble at your age.” He waved his fork at me to emphasize his point.

  You got that right.

  I couldn’t help but smile. I still got so much pleasure from watching him eat a full plate—sometimes two or three—of fresh, home-cooked food every night. He must’ve been more malnourished than I’d even realized, because in just the few months we’d been here, he’d begun to look like a whole new person. Even his premature grey had started to return to a light sandy brown. And I was sure I’d seen him smile more times in the past week than in the past five years combined.

  We finished and I cleaned up the kitchen, then wished him good night as he settled in on the couch to watch whatever sports program was showing on ESPN.

  “Hey, if you’re not too stuck with your readin’ tomorrow, why don’t ya come into town with me? I gotta get a few things. We can have dinner together at a sit-down restaurant. Your pick.”

  Startled, I paused on my way to my room. Dad had never asked me to hang out with him like that before for no particular reason.

  “Is everything okay? Something up?”

  “Just wanna spend some time with my only daughter ‘fore she’s growed and outta the house. There a law ‘gainst that??
??

  I grinned. “No law. Sounds great.” Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had some sort of ulterior motive. But I doubted it; that wasn’t Dad’s style. And it’d be nice to spend some time with him away from home. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d done that.

  I closed my bedroom door behind me and slowly turned the lock, hoping he didn’t hear the light click. I didn’t want him to get suspicious—not that he ever did—but I also didn’t want him to just wander in here later. I hadn’t been in my room a minute when I heard Lily’s voice.

  “Hey, Calista. I see you’re alone in your room now. Sophie and I are on our way.”

  “Okay, I—”

  Almost instantly, Lily and Sophie’s bodies wavered into view a few feet in front of me. Sophie hopped around shaking her arms, and I gave Lily a light scowl. “Don’t give me so much warning next time. I think I had almost a whole half-second—”

  Lily waved her hand dismissively. “Sorry—guess we were just a bit eager. And I could tell you were alone.”

  “When is your sexy loverboy making his appearance? Is he bringing Justin here, or what’s the plan?” Sophie positioned herself in front of the mirror and started fiddling with her hair.

  I flopped down on my bed, and Lily sat beside me. “He’s going to stop by here before he gets Justin. Then he’s shimmering him back to Ana’s side garden, next to the bird sanctuary. We’re supposed to meet Ana there and wait for them.”

  “The side garden? You mean outside? Why would we go there? It’s freezing out tonight!” Sophie exclaimed.

  “It’s like, sixty degrees out,” I responded dryly.

  “I know! Brrrrrrrr!”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a wimp. You’d never survive a real winter somewhere.”

  “I’m a Cali girl through and through. Anything below sixty-five degrees and I practically turn into an ice cube,” she called out as she headed into my closet. “But why are we meeting at the bird sanctuary? That’s an odd place to go.”

  “Ana wants us to meet in the south garden because—are you guys ready for this—because she insists we stay near Ecudiar and Drakonas to see if they react to Justin. I guess if he’s still a threat, they’ll come alive or scream or something.”

  “Whoa!” Sophie exclaimed, bounding from the closet clutching a pink sweater to her chest. “Isn’t that a little risky? I mean, what if they attack him or something? Didn’t Ana say the gargoyles like to ‘rip people to shreds’?”

  “They wouldn’t really hurt him, would they?” Lily echoed.

  I shook my head. “No…I mean, I don’t think so. Ana said they’d just make that noise again. The warning that danger is nearby.”

  Sophie shuddered as she pulled the sweater over her head. “Ugh, I hope not. That was the worst sound I’d ever heard in my life. Please let Justin be okay so they don’t make it again!”

  “Obviously that’s not the only reason we want him to be okay,” Lily added pointedly.

  “Well, obviously. It’d just be a nice bonus.” Sophie turned to me. “Any new news on the memory modification front?”

  I let out a sigh and flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I guess Ana is meeting with some ‘higher ups’ tomorrow and they’ll ‘advise her on the situation’.” I made air quotes with my fingers. “She just wanted to check Justin out and see what shape he was in first.”

  “Maybe it’ll be okay,” Sophie said hopefully. “Maybe the Council will have an idea of what to do. If anyone knows how to fix this, it’s them.”

  I saw Lily look down at the floor. She suspected what I did—that not even the Council would have any real solutions. None that would mean a good outcome for Justin, anyway.

  Suddenly, Lily bolted upright. “Incoming!” she hissed under her breath. Both Sophie and I looked at her, confused, until a few seconds later Nicholas’s body faded into view. He gave a quick glance around the room and smiled warmly.

  “Good evening, ladies.” He came over to my side of the bed and sat down beside me, resting his hand on the top of my leg.

  “Hi, Nicholas,” they responded in unison. I took comfort in the fact that they both really liked their boyfriends, otherwise I might have been a little bit nervous by their appreciative gazes toward mine. I couldn’t really blame them, though. It was difficult not to be momentarily stunned by Nicholas’s striking good looks. Not that Brady and Roman were ugly by any stretch of the imagination. It was just that Nicholas was in a league all his own, and we all knew it. And tonight he looked especially handsome in a tight black turtleneck sweater that matched perfectly his thick, messed up hair, and made his green eyes positively pop against his tanned skin. His mother might be the famous movie star in the family, but Nicholas was the one who looked the part.

  I felt the familiar warmth in my soul I got whenever Nicholas looked at me. I could see so much in his eyes. Right now I wished I could just lose myself in those emerald pools for eternity.

  “You ready to do this?” he asked, his hand lightly drawing a line on my calf. I loved how automatic this response was…for each of us to touch the other whenever we were within reach. Like completing a magical circuit.

  I sat up and propped my back against the bed’s headboard. “You’re sure Justin’s okay? He’s all better and strong enough to shimmer?”

  Nicholas scooted closer. “I saw him about an hour ago,” he replied. “He’s much better, and definitely strong enough. I’m not worried at all.”

  “But Calista told us he was in horrible shape just a few days ago, and that you weren’t able to Heal him magically,” Lily commented. “So how’d he get better so quickly?”

  Nicholas shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong…from the outside he still looks pretty banged up, and he still needs lots of rest. He’s just strong enough to travel without the risk of dying.”

  I glanced down and fiddled with a throw pillow, unable to squelch the fear in the pit of my stomach. What if something went wrong? Or what if nothing went wrong and he was all better, but then we did something to make him lose his mind?

  “So what now?” Sophie asked.

  “Well, if you three are ready, why don’t you go meet up with Ana? I’ll go get Justin and bring him to the south garden, as she instructed.”

  I tried to force a smile, but my heart was racing. Nicholas gave me an understanding look, and as he stood up, he pulled me up off the bed with him.

  “Come ‘ere a sec,” he whispered.

  He took my hand and led me out the sliding glass door of my bedroom. We walked a few steps away from the house, then he stopped and turned around, pulling me close.

  “Are you okay? Tell me what’s worrying you.”

  I bit my lip, then shut my eyes and slowly shook my head. “There’s nothing you can do about it. It is what it is.”

  “What is?” he pressed.

  I shrugged as he brushed a stray lock of hair away from my eyes. “I guess...I dunno. It sounds stupid, but part of me wishes things could just sorta stop right now.”

  “Stop?”

  I leaned into him and leaned my head against his broad chest. “Yeah, you know…stop. Freeze time,” I whispered.

  Nicholas chuckled. “Well, I can do a lot of things, but I can’t do that. But why would you want to, anyway? I thought you’d be happy to see your friend come home.”

  I sighed. “I am. It’s just…right now, things are relatively okay. But I have this really bad feeling that this is just the calm before the storm. Like what happens next is going to set off some cosmic chain of events that will change everything, and not in a good way.”

  “What are you worried will happen?” Nicholas tilted my head up and looked into my eyes, concerned. “Is it Justin’s memory and what they are going to do with him?”

  “Yes, that’s part of it. But there’s more…Augh!! I hate this!!” I pushed away from him and stomped the ground in frustration.

  Nicholas was clearly taken aback. “Cal, what is it? Why’re you s
o upset?”

  I paced in angry circles, my frustration rising. I forced myself to take several long, deep breaths, but I still wanted to scream at the top of my lungs…or cry. Or maybe both.

  “It’s just not fair,” I sputtered. “It’s not fair, and it’s not right. We have these powers…I have—or at least I had—the power, but all it did was make me feel horrible and depressed. And I hated having it. But now that I need it more than anything, I can’t do it! Tell me, where’s the logic in that, huh?”

  Nicholas stared at me. “Callie, I see you’re upset and I want to help you, but I don’t really understand what you’re so mad about. What power don’t you have?”

  “My visions! My being able to see ahead! I used to be able to do that. My whole life, I saw things happen before they really did. Clear as day and always accurate. But now when I need those visions more than ever, I can’t do it anymore!”

  Nicholas cocked his head to the side. “Why not?”

  “I don’t know! They just stopped happening, right around the time I came here. Ana said it was natural—that powers sometimes change. But it doesn’t feel natural. I feel blocked. Blinded. And it’s horrible, because if I could See like I’m supposed to, like I’ve always been able to, not only would none of this have happened in the first place, but I’d be able to know if bringing him back here to Ana and her crew is the smartest thing to do. I mean, part of me wonders if he’s just better off staying where he is!” Angry tears spilled down my cheeks.

  Nicholas wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “Hey…hey…it’s going to be okay, sweetie. You’re shaking.” He pulled me closer.

  “I’m just cold. It’s freezing out,” I said. Better he think I’m a little chilly than on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

  “Chilly? It’s gotta be at least sixty degrees out, and you’re wearing a thick sweater.”

  I couldn’t help it. A small chuckle formed at the base of my throat. “Okay—I’m not really cold,” I whispered. “I’m just freaking out. And I know how much this must bother you. I’m sorry.”