The Complete Spellbound Trilogy Bundle

  Was I missing something? “What plan?”

  Sophie giggled. “Doing a spell, of course! And we already have it! It’s a quite common one, actually. It’s called the ‘Shared Vision Spell’ and was very popular with our people back in the day.”

  “Why?”

  Sophie shrugged. “’Cause sharing viewpoints and seeing other peoples’ visions is a great way to overcome differences and settle conflicts. Walk in the other person’s shoes, so to speak. But who cares why, just care that we have it! Once we do it, Lily and I will be able to see whatever you see, and she can shimmer us there, and I can fly us around if necessary. We can find your mom together.”

  “So from then on you guys would be able to see whatever I was looking at?” I wasn’t sure I liked that idea.

  Lily shook her head. “No, no. It would be just like with our Trinity Talk—only when you wanted us to.”

  Could it really be that simple? But as Saffron had said, ‘there are no coincidences in magic’. Sophie and Lily had found the spell that would take me to my mom, Ana was gone for the day, and we had the place to ourselves. My gut told me this might actually work.

  Now my own excitement was beginning to rival theirs. I took a deep breath.

  “Let’s go.”

  *****

  The third floor room was cozy and intimate today, and the walls appeared like an autumn sunset peeking through the shadows of skeletal trees. The entire area was ensconced in a deep reddish-orange glow and was surprisingly free of its usual décor, except for the strange writings and symbols.

  There were several dozen unlit candles of all colors spread throughout the room, and in the center was a round rug.

  We sat down in a circle, and Sophie laid out a piece of paper in the middle. “It’s a very simple chant, and you know the drill. We must synchronize our bio-rhythms and breathing as one. When we’ve truly connected, the candles will light. We must repeat this at least three times in a row in perfect unity.”

  I nodded. “Like how it was when we did our Trinity Talk spell.”

  “Exactly. Okay… let’s go.”

  Instantly the room darkened, as if it sensed what was about to happen and was setting the mood for us. We clasped each other’s hands, and I let my mind relax and focused on connecting with my sisters. This time I felt them so intensely, I almost feared the energy pulsating from them would cause me to lose my grip.

  Several times we breathed in… and out. In… and out.

  The candles suddenly lit.

  The three of us looked down at the paper.

  Father, Mother, Sister, Brother

  Friend and Neighbor, Lover, Foe

  I open my heart, I lend you my eyes

  To show me what I need to know

  See what I See, feel what I feel

  And let our one vision be perfect and real

  We had repeated the chant several times when suddenly the candles’ flames shot into the air, then went out. The room was dark again.

  “Think it worked?” Sophie whispered.

  “Only one way to find out.” I rose to my feet.

  The walls returned to their soothing amber glow, and the shadows of the tree branches swayed gently with some invisible breeze. I braced myself and walked over to the round mahogany table, praying I had the strength in me to do what I needed to do. There were no guarantees. Just because I’d found her once didn’t mean I’d be able to again.

  “You can do this,” Lily whispered, as if sensing my insecurity. She and Sophie stood at my sides.

  “You didn’t eat a large breakfast this morning, did you?” Sophie whispered nervously. I gave her a look and took a deep breath.

  Planting my hands on the table, I closed my eyes and mentally summoned the Stone. Almost immediately, it rose from its hidden depths.

  I opened my eyes and exhaled. “Okay, last time I was able to channel all our powers to find her. Let’s hope it works again.” I ran my fingers slowly over the large crystal block, and instantly it turned from a cloudy gray to a bright, swirly neon-green.

  Sophie gasped. “I see something!”

  “So do I,” Lily murmured.

  I kept moving my hands over the Stone, feeling its power connect with my own. It changed from a deep purple to bright red, and finally a soft yellow. “It’s ready,” I breathed.

  “You can do it Callie. We’re here for you,” Sophie’s voice whispered in my head.

  “We believe in you,” Lily followed up.

  I gave each of them a small smile, then grabbed their hands. Their power flowed through me and mixed with my own, and I felt stronger than I ever had. My eyes became like lasers. I opened my heart, my mind, my soul. I focused on one thing only… her face. I willed it into existence with every ounce of strength I had in me.

  The image of my mother was so strongly burned into my mind, the face looking back at me from the Stone could have been simply my imagination, if not for Lily’s small gasp, followed by a whisper.

  “I see her.”

  “So do I,” Sophie said quietly.

  “I do too,” I confirmed.

  She was alone, except for the dog resting at her feet. Like before, she was in front of the rustic white house. But this time she was sitting on the porch gazing off into the distance with a wistful, faraway look in her eyes. She was wearing a white turtleneck sweater and tight jeans, and her long auburn hair flowed free. She looked young.

  “Can you try to see more… make the picture bigger?” Lily asked gently.

  I forced my mind to slowly pull back, like a camera lens, the way I had with Justin when he was in the water.

  But the bigger the range, and the more scenery and detail that was revealed, the more my heart sank. Totally generic. Nothing but trees and bushes and grass and the tops of ordinary houses. There were some small side roads, but no real street signs or major intersections. No landmarks or unusual features at all. It could have been “Anytown, USA,” as far as I could tell. Or “Anytown, Any Country” for that matter. I tried expanding even more but felt my connection start to fade.

  “Wait! What’s that… down in the corner?” Lily asked, jumping up a bit closer.

  “Go back just a little more,” Sophie urged.

  I strained and focused on not breaking the connection; it would’ve been easier to walk backward on a high wire blindfolded. One wrong thought, one lapse of total concentration and the image would be gone. And I wouldn’t have nearly enough strength to get it back anytime soon.

  I pulled further, and the picture of my mom was all but gone. Suddenly Sophie gasped. “Oh my God…There! Is that what I think it is?”

  I couldn’t allow myself to see what she was pointing at; I had to keep my vision equally focused on the entire scene. If I shifted my gaze to look at one spot in particular, I could lose the whole thing.

  “No, it can’t be…can it?” Lily’s voice was just as astonished.

  “That’s impossible…”

  “What is it?” I asked as beads of sweat ran from my forehead and into my eyes. But I didn’t blink. I couldn’t.

  “It just can’t be... Wow… but it is!” Sophie kept gushing.

  I couldn’t help it. Obviously the girls were no help, and I needed to see for myself. I shifted my focus and quickly scanned the scene to see what had them so worked up. At first I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary… trees, houses. But just before the image vanished, I caught a glimpse of something on the bottom half of the Stone, and I thought I was going to vomit again.

  On the other side of the ordinary trees and houses surrounding my mom’s place were some small mountains. On the other side of those mountains were miles of sand stretching along the ocean. On a part of this sand was a lively boardwalk, and further down, a small carnival and a long pier.

  Diamond Falls.

  The next town over from Crystal Cove. The place where my school was, where my favorite Mexican restaurant was, where the holiday pageant was held, and where dad was picking up a
delivery right now.

  Stunned, I staggered back and covered my mouth with my hands. I’d spent my whole life thinking my mother was dead.

  Instead, she was less than fifteen minutes away from me.

  Chapter 19. A Black Cloud

  “Callie…you okay?” Lily and Sophie helped me over to the couch.

  I nodded. “Just a little dizzy.” I wiped my brow and glanced around hoping to see a pitcher of ice water somewhere. No luck.

  “Well, at least you didn’t puke this time,” Sophie said encouragingly and gently rubbed my back.

  I moaned and buried my face in my hands. “I still might… Diamond Falls?! Really? Why there, of all the places in the world?”

  Try as I might, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that the woman who ran away from her life here, the same one who’d left my father and me all those years ago, the one who’d cloaked herself in an invisibility spell to stay hidden from her POWERFUL WITCH MOTHER, would set up camp right up the road. It made no sense!

  “How has she been so close this whole time and no one knew?” Lily murmured to no one in particular.

  “Maybe she hasn’t been here all that long,” Sophie said quietly.

  It made no difference to me if she’d been here for five years or five days. She was here, and that knowledge drove a stake straight through to my heart. I collapsed back against the couch and closed my eyes.

  “Sorry I lost the connection. Were you able to see enough to tell where she was, or did I totally blow it?” Even though we’d seen she was in Diamond Falls, that was still a big area. Without a specific location, she may as well be in the middle of the Amazon rainforest for all the good it would do us.

  But Lily nodded. “I actually had seen enough when we saw her on the porch, but in case she has the area enchanted, which I’m assuming she does, I didn’t want to try to shimmer in blind. She could have a nasty blocking spell up that would not be good for us to try to pass through.

  I sat up again. “Can you take me there?”

  She nodded. “Ready when you are.”

  My eagerness mixed with the anger that simmered beneath the surface. How desperately I wanted to confront her! But, even more than that, what I most wanted to do was curl up in bed and go to sleep. Seeing was so draining on my system…I didn’t even have another feeling to compare it to. I just felt like a worthless blob of pudding with the strength of a kitten and the brain power of a bowl of oatmeal.

  “What time is it?” I murmured.

  “Around noon,” Lily answered.

  I let out a big yawn. “Okay, can you take me back to my room? I’ll need a power nap if I’m to be in any condition to face her. I can’t even think straight right now, and I can barely stand.”

  “Of course.” She placed her hands on Sophie and me, and a fraction of a second later we were all sitting on my bed.

  “Thanks… Come back around five. If I’m still sleeping, wake me.” I flopped back on the pillow and wrapped the blanket around me.

  “Okay, we will. Get some good rest…”

  I was sound asleep even before they’d shimmered away.

  It seemed like only a few seconds had passed when I felt the gentle nudging on my arms.

  “Calista, wake up,” Sophie’s voice cajoled.

  I groaned and rolled over. “Five more minutes.”

  “Here, I brought you some of this—” She put a mug of something in front of my nose. I had to admit, it smelled delicious.

  “What is it?” I asked groggily and rubbed my eyes.

  “It’s my mom’s secret recipe, but it basically tastes like a caramel latte. It’s loaded with some special spices that make caffeine seem like a joke.”

  I struggled to sit up and took the steaming cup from her hands. Lily opened the drapes to let the last of the afternoon sun in through the sliding glass door, and I squinted as I brought the mug to my lips.

  “This won’t make me crazy jittery, will it? I’m sensitive to too much caffeine.”

  Sophie shook her head. “Nah, that’s why it’s so awesome. All the pep and none of the side-effects. You’ll be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in no time. You’ll see.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What does that expression mean, anyways? Who would want to be bushy-tailed?”

  She smiled and shrugged as I took a few sips. Almost immediately I felt some of my strength return, and before I was even halfway done with the drink, I was ready to go. The nerves in my stomach were working on overdrive. I was about to see my mother, in the flesh, and I had no idea what to expect.

  “Just give me a sec.” I went into the bathroom and splashed some cool water on my face. I stared in the mirror, and for a quick flash, I was looking at her reflection instead of mine.

  “I’m coming,” I whispered. “You can’t hide from me anymore.”

  *****

  The icy sensation was over before it even had time to really register in my mind. The three of us were standing in an inconsequential-looking alley behind some buildings.

  Sophie glanced around. “Where are we?”

  “About a mile away from her house,” Lily replied. “I knew this area was deserted, and it’s far enough away for us to avoid any spells she may have set up, but close enough so we can walk.”

  I nodded and tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. “After you.”

  It was already dusk, and would be dark before very long. We made our way to a main intersection and crossed it, then took another turn. Small houses lined the road. I asked Lily how she knew which way to go.

  She shrugged. “When I saw the place through your eyes and the surrounding area, it sorta burned a map in my mind. I focused on it as a destination to shimmer to, so somehow my brain processed and remembered it.

  “That’s so cool,” I murmured.

  A few minutes later, Lily stopped and took a deep breath. “This is it,” she announced, and pointed down a small side street. There were no lights, and it was shrouded in complete darkness.

  “I don’t see any houses there,” Sophie said, squinting. “You sure this is the right place?”

  Lily nodded. “I’m sure. Maybe it’s down a bit further. But it’s there.”

  Sophie shuffled her feet. “It’s down there… In the darkness?” her voice squeaked.

  “Yup.”

  I started walking, and after only a brief hesitation they fell in beside me. Suddenly, the twilight sky turned pitch-black, and we could no longer even see our hands in front of our faces. Both of them grabbed me.

  “Callie, we’re blind in here!” Sophie gasped. “Obviously she has a spell over the place so that no one can find—”

  I snapped my fingers several times in succession until both of my hands were lit with glowing fire. I stared at the flames and willed them to grow bigger and bigger, until I appeared to be holding a large beacon.

  “I can see. Let’s go,” I said determinedly.

  Lily and Sophie huddled beside me, each clutching an arm as I led the way down the darkened path. “Uhhhh, Lily… did you know she was a human blow torch?” Sophie asked in a loud stage whisper.

  “No clue,” Lily replied.

  We progressed slowly for several more yards, and the further we walked, the more Sophie and Lily seemed to drag their feet. I didn’t know whose apprehension I was feeling more—theirs or mine.

  “What if she has the place booby trapped?” Sophie’s voice was so low I could barely hear her. “If she doesn’t know it’s you, she might shoot first and ask questions later.”

  I stopped abruptly in my tracks and held my breath. Lily and Sophie moved closer. “What is it?” Lily whispered.

  My heart was racing unnaturally fast, and I was sure I was about to have a heart attack at any second. I took slow, measured breaths to calm myself.

  “She knows we’re here,” I said hoarsely. “And she’s not very happy about it.”

  “What do we do? Do we go back?” Sophie asked. I could hear the nervousness in her voice, and
I couldn’t blame her. We could see only a few feet in front of us, and we were wandering through a blinding fog created by a powerful witch who clearly didn’t want to be found. I’d be nervous too… if I wasn’t so damn angry.

  I lifted my hand and willed the flames to go even higher. “I’m here! Where are you? Stop hiding, Mother! Come and face your daughter!”

  Silence. Sophie and Lily had stopped breathing.

  “I’m here and I’m not leaving!” I called out again. “I found you; you can’t ignore me any longer!”

  Complete stillness. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve sworn we were all alone out here.

  But I did know better.

  “I know you’re here! I can feel you! What’re you so afraid of? Come out and face me, just this once. You owe me that much! Then I’ll leave and you never have to see me ever again. You can forget I ever existed, and I’ll forget you ever did, too!” My shouts had turned into screams, and my frustration was almost to its boiling point. I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated.

  Show yourself, show yourself, show yourself, show yourself…

  “Callie!” Lily gasped.

  I opened my eyes as the black fog around us swished and swirled, then twisted into tiny tendrils before dissipating. The dying glow of the day’s last light barely lit the sky, but I saw her standing there as clearly as if she were standing beneath the mid-day sun.

  She looked exactly as I’d pictured her, except maybe a bit smaller. More petite. She was still wearing the same clothes as before, only now she was sporting a loose braid, making her look even younger. It was almost like looking in a mirror. Our facial features were shockingly similar, and her hair just a few shades darker than mine. But the resemblance was uncanny, and I felt as if I could stare at her all day.

  But it wasn’t just these physical details that grabbed my attention—it was the tumultuous storm of emotions she was feeling. On the outside she looked perfectly composed and poised, but on the inside, her body was waging an internal war.

  Like mother like daughter.