Fate Changer (The Lost Witch Trilogy #3) (13 page)

Sarah glanced at the silver jeep parked in the corner and shuddered as she tried to control her sobs. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of Lash’s jacket as he sped out of the parking lot and towards the beach house.

When they arrived minutes later, it was to find Gretchen and Agnes walking down the front steps holding an umbrella over their heads. It was so windy that the umbrella tilted up dangerously.

Lash jumped out of the car and Sarah joined him, running towards the women. Agnes took one look at Sarah’s face and put her hand over her heart. Gretchen lowered her arm, and didn’t notice when the wind snatched the umbrella and sent it sailing into the wind.

“
Zane
?” Gretchen asked, looking ashen.

Sarah grabbed her hand in hers. “Charles took him. We have to get him back. We have to do it now before Charles does something to him. Before he’s hurt,” she said as calmly as she could, but sounding as if she were gasping for air instead.

Agnes shook her head, closing her eyes in distress. Gretchen stared over their heads, her eyes unseeing as the horror of having her son taken swept over her. Her knees collapsed under her and Lash barely caught her as she fainted in his arms.

Agnes shook herself and then motioned for everyone to head back up the steps and into the house.

Sarah walked into her grandmother’s house and immediately felt a small amount of peace and calm wash over her. She closed her eyes and paused in front of a picture of a young girl standing with her feet in the water. As she stood there, trying to calm her heart and even her breathing, she felt her grandmother’s presence with her strongly. The peace she felt upon entering the house doubled and she nodded her head. There was still hope. And if there was hope that meant that there was a chance that they’d be able to find Zane. She would not give up. That’s exactly what Charles would want her to do. She heard everyone rushing past her and the sound of Lash laying Gretchen down on the sofa in the parlor.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and found Lash standing next to her, studying her face somberly. She looked at him questioningly.

“You really love him don’t you? It’s not an act or a crush is it? It’s real,” he said curiously.

Sarah felt her heart squeeze painfully, but she reached out a hand and touched Lash’s arm. “Yes Lash. I love him with all my heart. Someday a girl will love you that way. I promise,” she said and walked past him to join the women in the parlor.

Lash followed slowly, glancing at Charlie quickly before standing next to Agnes. Sarah knelt down in front of the couch and took Gretchen’s hand in hers. She closed her eyes and sent calming energy throughout Gretchen’s body and mind. She opened her eyes to see Gretchen staring at her.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, trying not to cry.

Gretchen let go of Sarah’s hand and sat up, looking to her mother who joined her on the couch. Agnes pulled her daughter into a tight hug and patted her back comfortingly.

“We knew this was a possibility Gretchen. Zane knew the dangers,” Agnes said with a frown at her daughter’s troubled, wet eyes.

“Knowing and experiencing are two very different things Mom and you know that. Please don’t try to comfort me. It’s not possible.”

Sarah winced and stood up from the hard wooden floor. Gretchen turned to look at her step away and pointed at the space next to her on the couch.

“Tell me what happened,” she ordered in a surprisingly firm voice.

Sarah nodded, swallowed painfully and then went over everything that had happened as soon as they walked out the door to when they had arrived moments before. Gretchen sighed and covered her face in her hands, gripping the hair on her scalp painfully through her fingers.

“This is different than last time. A few idiots kidnapped him and drugged him and he almost died.
And they were idiots
. This time? The most powerful evil witch has taken my son. What are his chances?” she asked looking at everyone in a sweep of her glowing blue eyes.

Lash licked his lips and glanced at Sarah before moving to stand in front Gretchen. “He doesn’t have a chance in hell unless we go after him. Charles will never just let him go out of the kindness of his heart. He saw Zane kissing Sarah and he’s the type of man that would kill anyone who tried to take something he thought was his. He’s too prideful to let this go.”

Gretchen nodded her head at what Lash said and held her hand out to the young man. “Lash, I’m so grateful you’re here. What would we do without you,” she said and lifted her hand to her mouth as she started to cry again.

Sarah smiled slightly as Lash winced and looked uncomfortable but pleased too. Agnes stood up and grabbed him in a hard hug, squeezing him tightly.

“We love you Lash,” Agnes whispered, patting his back before sitting down next to her daughter again.

Lash looked so flustered he turned around. Sarah stood up curiously and walked around him, touching him gently on his arm. “
Lash?
”

Lash jerked his head and tried to look away, but Sarah saw it. There were tears on Lash’s cheek.

“Has no one ever told you they loved you before?” she asked softly.

Lash shrugged and sniffed as he wiped something off his cheeks. “I’m sure my mom did when I was little. I just can’t remember,” he said, his voice sounding hoarse.

Charlie walked over to Lash and put her arms around Lash’s middle, leaning in to hug him with her head against his chest. “Lash, we’ll love you forever.”

Lash shook his head as if he couldn’t take anymore. Sarah took compassion on him and punched his arm. “Ah, give the guy a break. You’re killing him,” she said with a grin.

Lash extricated himself from Charlie and moved to grab a chair to pull closer to the couch. Gretchen patted his knee and smiled at him. She motioned for Charlie and Sarah to sit down too.

“Well, we’ve got to go get my boy. How do we do that? We don’t know where he’s being held. First we have to find Charles,” she said.

Agnes bit her lip and pushed a lock of silver hair over her shoulder. “He’ll use this to get to Sarah somehow. If Sarah . . .,” she said, but was interrupted by Lash shaking his head and holding his hand up.

“
No!
Do you think Zane would want Sarah to give herself up to Charles to gain his freedom? He’d kill us all when he gets free and you know it. I’ve seen what he can do. I don’t want him coming after me because I handed Sarah over to Charles on a silver platter,” Lash said, looking upset.

Sarah gripped her hands together, knowing she would gladly hand herself over to Charles in order to gain his freedom.

Agnes held her hand up before Lash could start talking again. “Let me finish. You’re right though. He’d skin us alive if we let anything happen to his girl. No, I was simply suggesting that Sarah communicate with him in the hopes of finding out where Zane is being kept.”

Sarah breathed out in relief. Her mind must be gone from all the stress for her not to have thought of it herself. “Even when he was passed out from drugs in the woods back in Pennsylvania I was still able to get a response. Who needs Charles? Zane can tell us everything we need to know!” she practically yelled, jumping up and down in her excitement.

Lash nodded. “Perfect. I always thought it was so annoying the way you two could talk to each other, but this will save him. Try Sarah.
Try now
,” he urged her.

Sarah looked at everyone in the room and knew there was too much emotion in the room for her to concentrate. “I’ll go out on the widow’s walk. I’ll be stronger if I can feel the ocean and I’ll be able to concentrate better. You all stay here. I’ll come back when I’m done,” she promised, already walking out of the room.

She ignored the stairs that led up to the third floor and ran outside and into the rain. She held her arms up and used her energy to lift her through the air to the top of the house. She gently floated over the railing and landed softly on her feet.

She walked quickly to the side closest to the ocean and stared at the crashing angry water trying it’s best to hurl itself onto land. She breathed in the heavy wet air, ignoring the rain and the wind and held her arms out to her sides as she closed her eyes. She sent her energy out of herself and focused on one thing.
Zane
. Instead of looking for a specific place where he was being held, she just focused on him. She called out to his mind, over and over.

Zane
.

She paused every few minutes to listen and wait. As she began to feel the chill on her arms and body, she knew she’d have to go in soon. She tried again, picturing him in her mind, the morning that she had shared part of her energy with him and he had given part of himself to her. The love she felt for him welled up inside of her and burst out through her fingertips, flashing out in little points of light so bright and small they looked like fireworks. She called out with her mind again, praying he would answer this time. Hoping with all her heart he would answer back.

She slowly lowered her hands and her head to her chest in defeat. He was either too far away or he was mentally unable to answer.
Or dead
. She opened her eyes and stared in crushing disappointment out at the ocean. He couldn’t be dead. She would know it. She would feel it somehow. No, Zane was alive. But then why wasn’t he answering her?

As she turned to walk away towards the opposite side of the house, she felt a slight bump of energy touch her back. She whipped around and stared at the ocean, her eyes, searching and her hands, clenched in desperate hope. “Zane,” she whispered softly.

Another small blip of energy touched her collar bone and she felt one word slip inside her mind,
Hurry
.

Chapter 11 – Blutraush

Sarah returned to the house and could hear everyone in the kitchen, heating up leftovers from yesterday and talking quietly. She slipped up the stairs to her old room and headed for the shower. Witch or not, she was going to get pneumonia if she didn’t get warmed up. Besides, she needed a little time before she told everyone what Zane had communicated to her. It would make Gretchen and Agnes frantic to say the least. It made her heart hurt just thinking of what could make Zane say that word.

After feeling that word, she had sent her thoughts to Zane, begging him to tell her where he was so they could find him, but even though she stayed another half an hour out in the wind and rain, nothing more came.

She stepped into the steaming hot water and closed her eyes as the water pummeled her back making her fingers and toes burn at the unexpected heat. Now that she was alone, away from everyone and the horror of what had happened had settled around her in a new reality, she could let down and sob her heart out for as long as she wanted to. She kneeled down on the tile floor of the shower and lay there, quivering and sobbing for so long, she lost track of time. When she felt drained and her skin began to wrinkle, she stood up and turned off the water. She toweled dry and found some of her old clothes to change into. She chose warm looking sweats and fuzzy socks for her feet. She whisked her still damp hair over her shoulder and went down to face everyone.

She stepped into the warm, bright kitchen and saw everyone sitting at the table by the window, eating bowls of clam chowder and staring at a piece of paper. She moved silently to the stove and ladled herself some chowder and joined the group.

She took a bite, grateful for the warmth and looked back at all the eyes staring at her now, quietly waiting to hear if she’d been successful.

“It took a while. I don’t know what that means. He felt very far away. When I finally heard back from him, it was so faint, I could barely understand him. He said only one word. He said,
Hurry
,” she said and then leaned her head on her hand, not being able to look at their hopeful faces anymore.

Gretchen thrummed her fingers on the table and then startled everyone by banging her fist on the wood and laying her head on her arms, as she let tears over take her.

Charlie, who was sitting the closest to her, reached out a hesitant hand and patted her back gently.

Agnes looked at Sarah and Gretchen and closed her eyes in pain before looking at Lash.

“Well, he spoke. Let’s do what he says. He said to hurry, so we’ll hurry. If he can talk to Sarah, then he’s alive and there’s hope. This is good news, now no more wasted time on tears and emotion. I know this hurts. I love that boy too. We all do. Well, maybe not Lash so much. But if we let our fears and worry take over, then he’s dead. We have to think and we have to act.”

Lash grimaced looking embarrassed. “Actually, he’s starting to grow on me,” he admitted with a grin.

Agnes smiled at Lash and then looked at Sarah and Gretchen with pointed looks. Gretchen sniffed and wiped her nose on a napkin. “He’s
my son
Mom. I think I have the right to cry for him.”

Agnes nodded. “You’re right, you do. But if you’re done now, it’s time to get down to the business of saving your son.”

Sarah wiped her red-rimmed and swollen eyes and nodded her head. “Okay, I’ll try,” she said, not making a promise she couldn’t keep.

Agnes nodded her head. “Now this is a map of Maine. If you can track him, then you can do it from a map. It’s a technique called remote viewing. You’re strong enough that you shouldn’t need to walk every inch of Maine to find him.”

Sarah’s eyebrows rose in surprise as Agnes pushed the map toward her. “
Seriously
? You want me to look at this map and tell you where Zane is.”

Every face at the table stared back at her, looking hopeful. Sarah grimaced and took another bite of the clam chowder before she touched the map with her finger, drawing it closer to her. “
What?
I’m just supposed to close my eyes and point to a dot on the map? And what if I’m wrong? What if this turns out to be a wild goose chase and Zane is killed because we’re off in the middle of Maine?” she said testily, glaring at the map.

Agnes patted her hand and nodded firmly. “It’s a lot of pressure, I know. But you’re all we have. Charles might be the most powerful witch, but we have the second most powerful witch with us. It’s worth a try dear.”