Black Moon (22 page)

Snootily, Maggie says, “What would you have done? How would you have proceeded? I’ll tell you: the same way you’re reacting now. And there would’ve been nothing you could do to stop them.”

I rub circles on Ben’s back, hoping it’ll provide some comfort. I, of all people, know what it’s like to have a family suppress secrets. But I’m pretty sure his family just landed in first place for world’s worst, topping mine.

“So, the facts up to now are that they’ll arrive tomorrow, but we don’t know what their ultimate plan is,” I say. “My guess: he’ll lure us both, maybe together, maybe separate. Doesn’t really matter since there will be so many of them. He’ll use parents or loved ones as decoys. If we don’t surrender to him, and it’s not like we’ll be given a choice, then he’ll murder everyone.”

Maggie bobs her head once, but it’s barely noticeable. “And he wants the souls inside of you,” she appends. “Not yours—the others.” She gives us a shrewd look. How she understands some things without us mentioning them to her is beyond my comprehension.

I snort. Inappropriate at the moment, I know. “Too bad Ben and I have other plans.”

Maggie’s eyebrows climb. “Oh?”

Ben—still reeling from the shock of his parents’ betrayal but able to form sentences—says, “We’re going to release them when all of this is over. We made a deal.”

Amused, Maggie asks how we plan on achieving this when we don’t have a chance in hell to kill Alaric. We definitely can’t pull it off now since Alaric has an entire
group
of Ancients heading our way. Plus, we don’t have the ability to release Ancients. Magic like that will take years to harness, according to Maggie. And she, for the most part, is very aware of the words exiting her mouth.

“The souls and powers are just the beginning, though,” Maggie persists. “He plans on finding the original wolf that bit him and use it to start an army.”

“An army for what?” I probe. Dozens of scenarios race through my mind, all of them insignificant. What could Alaric possibly want with a legion of werewolves? Rule the earth? He can do that without Mini-Me’s.

“He wants to be
invincible
,” explains Maggie.

I’m annoyed at how selfish Alaric truly is. “He’s kind of already invincible, F-Y-I, so excuse me if I ask stupid questions, but none of this is making any sense.”

“Doesn’t make sense to me, either,” Ben exclaims. “When he worked with my family, he mentioned nothing of an army or my power or taking over the world.”

Maggie observes us concisely. “You two haven’t been doing your homework.”

“There’s no way in hell we would’ve seen this coming,” I dispute. “Sure, I can understand him siding with Ben’s family, what with the family bloodline and all, but I never expected to learn he had much bigger plans.”

Ben point-blank asks Maggie, “What’s the reason for this? I mean, what’s he going to prove?”

“That he’s untouchable,” she says, humbly. “He will have the power to bend time to his will. He will rule all.”

“Okay, so how do we stop him?” Ben stands, like he’s ready to end Alaric.

Maggie gestures for him to sit down. “In time.”

Ben doesn’t care. Panicking, he paces the small kitchen. “We don’t have time! We don’t have anything. By tomorrow night, we won’t even be alive.”

“Benjamin Conway, I don’t have the patience for a tirade right now. Sit. Down.”

“I can’t do this,” he says, bolting out of the kitchen, and then the front door.

I groan. “This is a lot to process, you know, especially the part about his family.” Glancing from the entryway back to Maggie, I ask, “So, what can we do?”

Lost in thought, Maggie doesn’t initially reply. She stares off past the front, where Ben left. “You have to go back to the beginning, before the first Ancients were bitten and had spells placed on their souls. You and Ben have to stop them, and you two can only achieve this by working together. One cannot succeed without the other.”

Wow. Déjà vu. “Ben and I discussed this.”

“You have?”

I nod. “Yeah, when his family kidnapped me and locked me in their basement. Ben told me what my power would be, because he already inherited his. He explained why his family
really
wants my power, how they seek to travel back to the beginning of Ancients’ time. Of course, that was before we knew about
his
plans for the Conway’s.

But,” I continue, “Ben also said traveling that far would more than likely kill us. It’s too much energy; we’d have to travel in spurts.”

“The boy’s right.”

“So, how do we back step five hundred years?”

Maggie’s lips thin. “There is only one way, child. You’ll be
takin
’ a mighty risk, if you can even take one at all.”

Chapter Fifteen

N
ow that I know what I have to do, I need to wrangle Ben and clarify the plan. I find him pacing up and down the street in front of Maggie’s house, rubbing his face and mumbling to himself. He can’t lose his sanity when we’re so close to finding a way out of this chaos.

“Come with me,” I order as I pass by, not checking to see if he follows. Whether he wants this or not is his choice, but I need to play the reverse-psychology trick on him for this to work.

“Where are you going?” he calls from behind me.

I don’t respond.

Shortly, though, his feet fall into step with mine. We start the trek to Randy and Beth’s, where everyone was last seen. I can only hope they’re still alive when we get there.

“You going to tell me about this plan?” Ben asks.

Without looking at him, I say, “Yeah, eventually. Right now we need to focus on our families, make sure they’re okay.”

“So, the plan part was an excuse to get me to come with you?”

“No. I really do have a scheme, courtesy of Maggie. The idea behind it is insane, and there’s a high probability of us dying in the process, but right now, it’s all we’ve got.”

“Great,” he mutters.

“Have a little faith,” I tell him. “And keep in mind our family is depending on our actions.”

The exterior of Randy and Beth’s home is untouched. If I were an innocent bystander, I’d never know that an ancient evil lurked inside earlier, or that the people who reside here—and the ones who don’t—were wiped out cold.

Ben holds his arm horizontal against my chest, halting me. “I’ll go first.”

“Oh, please,” I say, rolling my eyes and shoving him out of my path. “Don’t even try to play the hero. We both have loved ones in there, and I’m not about to wait, by myself, while you gallop in on your white horse and save the day.”

Although, once we’re indoors, I realize none of these people would have known if Ben or I saved the day. Motionless bodies are strewn across the foyer and the living room. Many are Followers. Many are Watchers. The rest are those closest to us.

“Oh my god,” I breathe, dropping to my knees beside Mom and placing two fingers against the vein in her neck. There’s a pulse. “She’s alive!”

Ben falls to the floor beside his parents, checking for heartbeats. With a gentle nod of his head, he says, “They are, too.”

I almost cry from happiness. The instant passes, however, when all of them—everyone in the room except Ben and me—sit up straight. Just . . . bolt vertical from the waist up. I stand, slowly. What kind of sorcery is this? Alaric’s, obviously, but I have no idea what he’s planned. All of these faultless people might blow up at any second, they might turn into zombies, or Alaric can have something fouler prearranged. I shake my head, eradicating these considerations, and, just as I do, everyone’s jaws drop, gaping O’s forming at their mouths.

“What the hell?” Ben exclaims.

My thoughts exactly.

“Ben, I think—”

At that specific moment, they all speak in monotone unison, like marionettes dangled on invisible strings. “Town Hall. Noon tomorrow. Come alone or I’ll kill them one at a time.” Then everyone falls backward to the floor with a loud
smack
. Eyes flutter open, blinking several times, trying to remember where they are and what happened last. Ben and I stand in the foyer, together, watching everybody awaken.

Beth’s the first to lurch into action, especially toward the Conway’s. Raising her hands to perform magic, I stop her by evenly stating her name. She drops her hands, turning toward Ben and me.

I shake my head.
Leave them be,
I say.
We have something to discuss with all of you.

The Conway’s gradually come to, and then recognize where they are. Ready to execute the same enchantments as Beth, Ben, like me, prohibits his family from doing anything irrational. When every last person is awake, I begin my discourse.

“As everyone now knows, you were all victims of
his
magic. He has instructed Ben and me to meet him at the Town Hall tomorrow at noon. Unfortunately, none of you can be there. He’s invited all of his Ancient friends to tag along. Once he has both my powers and Ben’s, he’ll be traveling back to the beginning of the werewolf line to build an army.”

Mrs. Conway narrows her eyes. “And how did you, of all people, receive this information?”

“Mom,” Ben bites under his breath.

She shrugs instead. “We can’t have her creating fictional stories, can we? Why would he even want your power, Benjamin? It’s of no use to him.”

“Oh, it’s plenty useful,
mother
,” he snaps. “About as useful as all of you so he could get to Candra
and
me. He needed us to be marked so I could keep up with her thoughts, know where she was at all times, especially after her getaway. And he needs both of our powers so he can travel through past, present, and future.”

Mrs. Conway erupts into a fit of laughter. “I must say, she has done a wonderful job of persuading you with her campfire tales, but I’m not so easily convinced. Come, Benjamin, let’s return home to him. He’ll bring us current on the
truth
.”

Before I can intervene, Ben steps forward, grabbing hold of his mom and slamming her against the wall. “Have you lost your damn mind?”

“Benjamin,” growls his father, “let her go. I’m warning you.”

Ethan and Cameron take two steps forward, just in case, I guess.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” I say, unsure of where that came from. I should mind my own business; they aren’t my family.

“Candra, stay out of it,” says Mom.

Cameron and Ethan chuckle.

“Yeah, Candra,” says Cameron, “why don’t you listen to Mommy?”

He and Ethan lark even harder.

I sneer. “Careful, you two. I’d hate to freeze time, and then pick you off one by one.”

They lose their scowls and inch closer to me.

“Touch her and you die,” Ben threatens.

Beth speaks up. “All of you stop and listen to what these two have to say. I seriously doubt they’d lie about something so severe.”

I’m over it. “Let them think what they want, Beth. Ben and I will be at the Town Hall at noon tomorrow, without everybody there. And if any of you think it clever to show up unannounced, he’ll kill you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, Ben and I have an idea to discuss, privately.”

Ben shoves his mom one last time, glaring as he stalks away. In a brief inkling, Mrs. Conway’s eyes flash with fear, but the moment passes, and she resumes her normal charade. She still doesn’t believe her own son. I’m content with Ben finding out the veracity of the circumstances, although there’s no way I’d wish this cruelty on anyone. At least my family believes me.