Black Moon (The Moonlight Trilogy) (13 page)

Buried alive.

The huff of his breath sounded as loud as waves in the narrow wooden box. His father had once locked him in a closet for a whole night for healing a neighborhood dog. The dark, musty air and sense of imprisonment of that night were
nothing
like this.

Hot anger rushed up his throat, made his hands hot with magic. Sweat broke out on his forehead and dampened the hair at the back of his neck. Blue lights began flashing behind his closed eyes.
What kind of a test is this?

Or maybe the Covenant has finally decided to get rid of me.

He shook the stupid, paranoid thought aside.

Think. Think. What
’
s the challenge here? What are we supposed to do?

Buried in the ground. Under the dirt. In the earth.

Is it an Earth challenge?

A ripple of emotion made its way through the dirt to his mind
—
heavy, black fear.
Willa! Oh, no. Willa is down here, too.

Simon exhaled slowly and tried to reach out to her.
Willa?

Simon?
Came her trembling reply to his mind.

Are you okay?

He felt her hysteric, short laugh.
Oh, just great! You?
she said sarcastically.

He smiled to himself.
Okay, so what do we do? I
’
m thinking Earth challenge?

Yeah, me too. But the most I
’
ve ever done with Earth is grow
a sad little daisy out in the garden. How are we supposed
to get
unburied-alive?

He frowned and pressed his hands to the lid of the box above his chest. Could he push all that dirt up and away with magic? It would take a tremendous amount of power. He might be able to muster it, but he doubted Willa could, even though she
’
d become impressively powerful lately. He moved his hand to the side he thought Willa might be. He closed his eyes.
How far away is she?

Slightly surprised, he got an answer, a diagram in his mind: she was only a foot away, buried as deep as he, about four feet down.

An odd, heavy slithering noise reached Simon’s ears, breaking his focus. Goosebumps rose on his arms as he opened his eyes to the black
What is that?!
A moment later
, the wood at his feet groaned in protest. A loud crack, the splintering of wood. Something hard, thick, and cold wrapped around his leg.

He jerked away as much as he could, but there was no escape. The intruder slithered up Simon’s leg as visions of being swallowed by a giant snake flooded his mind. He reached down and grabbed at the thing.
Roots! Not a snake. Tree roots.

Simon wasn
’
t sure if that was better or worse.

Willa
’
s screams broke through his panic, echoing in his head.

Willa?!

There
’
s something in here with me. It has my leg. It
’
s squeezing me. It hurts!

It
’
s some kind of root. Can you pull it off or use magic?

The dirt outside the box shifted and more roots burst into his box
—
one on each side and one above. Dirt fell on his face, stuck to the sweat pouring off him. He turned, spit it out of his mouth, and tried to shake it off his eyes. Willa
’
s screams pitched; he felt her coughing, panicking.

Simon, they
’
re everywhere! The dirt is filling in. I can
’
t breathe!

His box was also quickly filling in with dense dirt, making it even more impossible to move. Shoving his hands through it, he tore at the roots, pulling them from his legs and torso as best he could. His chest burned, air running low.

Think!

Simon!

Willa?!

He felt her coughing again, choking on the dirt, and then nothing.

WILLA?
Then out loud, “WILLA?!”

Still no answer, in his mind or otherwise. Why wasn
’
t anyone helping her? What kind of test was this?

Simon
’
s anger blazed blue in his chest, hot and bitter. He lashed out to the side, using his elbow and then his fist to break through the box. Dirt sprayed into his face, but he didn
’
t care. Magic poured out of his hands without command. The dirt between him and Willa
’
s box moved aside lifted away by a bubble of energy.

Panic closing in around him, Simon scrambled toward Willa’s box. The roots were still trying to pull at him. He sent a burst of magic at them, and they crumbled to dust. He punched his fist through the side of Willa
’
s box, splinters of wood digging deep into his flesh. He groped for her, his eyes useless in the dark.

When his hand finally found her arm, a spark of heat flared between their skin. He tugged her unconscious body toward him, wincing at the roughness it required to free her. Fumbling, he found her face. “Willa?” he choked out. There was no
more air.

Simon pulled her against him and pressed his eyes closed. He let the magic inside him rise, like
a river in
flood. Then he let it explode. The impossibly heavy dirt above them erupted upwards. He blinked up at green willow leaves and
fragments
of dying sunlight.

Gulping down big breaths, he inspected Willa, her body limp and covered in dirt. He brushed the dirt from her eyes, nose, and mouth. “Willa? Come on, my Willa! Breathe!” He dug his hand into her hair, held her head, his lips pressed to her forehead, and sent a rush of his healing power into her body.

She responded with a horrid gasp, followed by a sputtering round of coughs. Simon sighed
in relief
and hugged her close. “It
’
s okay. You
’
re okay.” He looked down her body and pulled away the roots wrapped around her legs and stomach.

She coughed more and then relaxed in his arms. “Simon?”

“Yeah, yeah. It
’
s okay. We
’
re out.
”

“
You got us out?
”

“Yeah.”

“I couldn
’
t breathe. The roots . . .”

“I know.” Simon clenched his teeth, his anger still bubbling hot in his chest. He
looked
up to the lip of the pit he had blown in the earth. All ten other witches were looking over the side, staring down, covered in dirt. He resisted the urge to send another bolt of magic in their direction. Instead he let the magic dissipate out underneath him, shaking the ground for two protracted seconds.

Willa sat in Simon’s dusty
arms at the bottom of the pit thinking,
I failed. I failed the test.
Though grateful to Simon for saving her, she still wished she’d been powerful enough to do something to help, instead of playing the damsel in distress.

Twisting her neck, she looked up at the faces of all her coven-mates staring down at them, trying but failing to read their expressions. Even Charlotte looked like she’d either seen a ghost or committed a heinous crime.
What is going on? Why did they do that to us?

Anger came off Simon’s body in turbulent waves of heat; she could hear his heart pounding a furious beat.

Beyond the heads of the Covenant were the delicate branches of the willow.
Maybe I can still do something to help us.
She lifted her hand, noticing with a frown that her skin was a dark shade of brown from all the dirt, and focused all her magical energy on the long, thin branches.

Simon looked down at her as the branches reached into the pit, the old trunk groaning as it flexed, and formed a swing of sorts under them. When the swing was woven and stable, the tree straightened up, lifting Simon and Willa out of the pit. The branches set them gently on solid ground, sitting as they were in the pit, then retreated to their normal places with what sounded like a contented whisper of leaves.

Simon stared down at her, his face as dirty as the rest of him, with dirt nearly as dark as his eyes. “I wouldn’t call that failing.” He hugged her tighter.

Rowan stepped closer, and Simon’s face instantly darkened, the look he gave the Luminary as poisonous and threatening as a viper. “Just don’t, Rowan,” he said through clenched teeth. “How can you call almost killing us a test?!”

“Simon—” Rowan tried.

“No. No way. I’m done. This is ridiculous.” Willa could see Simon’s pulse racing in his throat and temples. She put her hand on his chest, but that didn’t slow it down. “How long would you have waited to help Willa? Huh? She passed out, couldn’t breathe. Did you even know that?”

“Of course!” Rowan said, kneeling down to get on equal ground. “Charlotte kept a very close watch. You were never in any real danger. We were just about to pull you both out when you . . . well, when you . . .”

“When I what? When I used my crazy powers that you all are so scared of? Yeah, I did. Willa was in trouble!”

Rowan exhaled, dropped his chin. “Please, Simon. Don’t be upset. I had a theory about your powers, and I decided to test it.”

Simon stiffened. “So we’re lab rats to you now?”

“Simon,” Willa said quietly. He looked down at her, eyes wild, jaw tense. “Let’s just listen for a minute. Please?”

He looked at Rowan. “Why don’t you just admit that you are afraid of me? That you don’t know what I can or will do?”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed, his lips pulling into a thin line. “I am not afraid of you, Simon. I’m trying to
understand
you.”

“By putting Willa’s life in danger? That’s unacceptable. If you have a problem with me, come to me. Don’t put her in the middle.”

“You are missing the point,” Rowan continued, his shoulders tense and his voice strained in a way Willa had never heard it.

“No,
you
are missing the point. If you want me gone just say it.” Simon looked from Rowan to the others. No one spoke, most avoided his eyes. “Well, I guess that’s my answer.”

Rowan’s blue eyes darkened. “You are out of line, Simon. No one is asking you to leave.”

“I’m not your soldier!”

“Simon!” Willa broke in again. She pushed hard on his chest. “Stop it! Please give Rowan a chance to explain.”

Simon’s jaw clenched and then released, but he sat back, eyes square on Rowan.

Rowan nodded and passed Willa a grateful look, but she glared at him with equal venom.
I’m not on your side right now, Rowan.
She didn’t understand why he would do that to them either.

“That night at the cave,” the Luminary began, “everything was very intense, very emotional. You didn’t have that burst of power until you realized Willa was there, until you saw her, yes?” Simon nodded stiffly. “Well, I started wondering if your loss of control was connected to your emotions, specifically concerning Willa.”

“You think it’s
my
fault he lost control?” Willa asked, horrified she might be a source of his problems.

Rowan shook his head. “No, not exactly. But, as we just witnessed, he used all his power to help you, to rescue you. I think the problem is an emotional problem, not necessarily a magical one. Does that make sense?”

Simon squinted in thought. “So, you’re saying I can control my powers if I don’t get too . . .
emotional?”
He shook his head forcefully.
“
What about the fact that I have more than one Gift? Don’t you think that might have something to do with it? I feel this battle inside me all the time. I don’t know what to do with it. What do I do with it?”

Rowan nodded thoughtfully. “I’m not trying to explain the
source
of your powers, just an idea about how to manage them. Acknowledging that there’s a fight in you is good. If we can minimize that conflict inside you, manage your emotions and reactions, then things will get better.”

“I’ll never be able to manage my emotions if Willa’s life is in danger.” Simon shrugged, slightly defiant. “And you know what else? Her life was never in danger until we met you guys.” With that Simon stood, lifting Willa to her feet. “Maybe this was a mistake.”

Willa stared at him for a moment, panic popping in her veins.
He’s gonna leave!
My dream! Oh, no!
“Simon, take a breath. What Rowan said makes a lot of sense.” Willa looked at Rowan. “I don’t think he needed to bury us alive —” Rowan’s eyes widened, and she gave him a look “—but you have to admit it proved a point.”

Simon shook his head, looked toward the front of the house as if he were debating whether to stay or bolt. He folded his arms. “I guess. But I just . . . I need some time to think.”

Rowan said, “Understandable. Go get cleaned up. Come back when you want to talk more.”

Simon looked at Willa, the need to leave evident on his face. “Okay. Let’s go.” Without waiting, he turned and took off.

Willa blinked at him. Her mind suddenly felt the way her body had under the weight of all that earth.

She hurried after him. He yanked open the door to the Jeep.

Willa ran toward him. She wanted him to stop, to slow down.

“Stop. Just stop. Okay?” she said, breathless.

Simon released the door, his shoulders slumping forward. “Sorry,” he muttered. “But, Willa, do you really want to stay after that? Aren’t you mad? Nothing about this has gone well. I mean, Rowan just buried us alive to prove a theory!”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Of course, I’m mad, but . . . I can’t think. I don’t know what to think!”

He fell silent. After a moment, he stepped closer to her. She wanted to cry, to collapse into him, but fought it. This was not the time to break down; she had to
think.

“Willa, I know you like being a part of this. But I’m not so sure it’s the right place for us. Maybe we should move on.”