Fate Changer (The Lost Witch Trilogy #3) (27 page)

“Come to me now Sarah. I demand it! If I weren’t certain you were worth the effort I’d kill you for all the aggravation you’ve caused me today. But I know we’re meant for each other. You’re perfect for me Sarah. You’ll understand when you get to know me better. Now
come
here
!” he roared as Jenny stood silently by.

Sarah felt the hair rise on the back of her neck and knew he was about to lose it. She couldn’t let anything happen to her cousin. Not because of her. She took a shuddering breath and moved to step forward when a movement on the water caught her attention. She blinked in surprise as Charles turned his head at the same time. It was a huge, massive black wave rearing up as tall as a building. Her mouth dropped open as she realized the water was reforming into the shape of a dragon. The dragon’s mouth opened and she was able to see long sword like teeth as the head moved back and forth. And then two large, wings spread out on either side of the dragon in a beautiful spectacle, glowing from the light of the moon.

“
Grandmother
,” she whispered and then knew she had to move. She burst out of the trees at a sprint as Charles stood transfixed by the large wall of water moving and twisting in a snake like manner.

She grabbed Jenny’s hand and touched her forehead, sending in wave after wave of energy to break the control Charles had over his daughter. A second later, Jenny blinked a few times and then looked at her in sudden awareness. Sarah shook her shoulders gently but firmly. “
Run
,” she said quietly and pointed to the path that led to the front of the house.

The water crashed down back into the ocean and the spell was broken. He turned and looked at her and she knew it was over. They were alone on the beach now. Her grandmother’s dragon had freed Jenny, but now it was her turn to face Charles.

“Ready to go?” Charles asked genially, as if he hadn’t just been screaming and they were going out to dinner. Charles smiled and held out his hand.

Sarah knew if she touched his hand, she’d disappear. And this time, there’d be no coming back.

“No,” she whispered, wishing she could have seen Zane one last time.

Charles stepped toward her and she stepped back automatically. Charles’s smile grew bigger. He loved playing cat and mouse. He loved that she was putting up a fight. He was actually having fun terrorizing her. And that made her mad.

She felt her energy pour through her arms and legs and flow throughout her body. She could tell Charles could feel it because his eyes gleamed in excitement. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted a fight. And then he would degrade her.

Sarah looked down at her feet for a moment, closed her eyes and told Zane she loved him one last time and then she jumped towards Charles, catching him in the chest and pushing him back as she used all the power she had to do the one thing she never thought she’d ever do.
Kill someone
.

Charles’s eyes flew open in shock and then he was falling back in the sand with Sarah on top of him. His body began convulsing as she sent all the energy she had into his body, commanding it to stop his heart, his brain and his organs.

He roared in outrage and pain and threw her off, sending her body flying over the sand. She screamed before she hit the ground, but was up immediately, her hands up to defend herself. Charles shook his head at her, his façade now gone. It was a fight now and whoever won would be the one still breathing at the end. Sarah knew in her heart it wouldn’t be her but she was going to slow him down as much as possible in the hope that it would save lives as soon as Zane and everyone else arrived.

Charles clenched his hands and without even moving or speaking she felt a white hot pain sear her mind as if he had ripped the top off her head and poured fire into her body. She screamed in agony and fell to her knees, wondering what had happened to her shield. She held her hands up to her head and in spite of the pain, sent her energy straight for Charles’s eyes. If he couldn’t see her, it would slow him down. Even as she felt like she was melting inside, she commanded her power to attack his eyes and immediately felt the fire in her body fade as Charles shrieked in agony.

Sarah stumbled to her feet and then threw up in the sand as her body reacted to the barrage of pain and energy that had ripped through her mind and body. She ignored Charles as she regained control of herself and stood up shakily in time to see Charles hold up his arms in front of him. She was momentarily blinded by a bright white light and then Charles’s screams stopped. The light faded and he was standing there, staring at her with a sneer on his face.

“I’m going to enjoy killing you Sarah. I always knew I would eventually, but you’ve been disrespectful and I won’t stand for that,” he said walking towards her.

Sarah moaned softly, feeling the exhaustion creep around the edges of her mind, but deep down, more than anything, she still wanted to live. He would have to find her to kill her. She gathered all her energy around her and jumped straight up, flying into the air. But instead of flying away from him toward the house, she flew toward the ocean. She knew the October water was freezing, but it was her only hope. She flew high above the water and then dove straight down, using her energy to create a shield around her body. She was cold, but the bubble she formed around herself would give her at least a few minutes of air before she had to resurface.

And then, she’d have to die. She knew it. She’d seen Charles’s face and her fate was written there as clearly as if he’d drawn her a diagram. His pride and ego would demand her death. There was no other option for her. No line would ever stop him now.

She turned around in her small bubble and felt the pulsing waves of the ocean surround her in a deceptive feeling of safety. Her oxygen was already running out though. She spent her last minute under water, thinking of Zane and all the dreams they had created together and then moved her bubble upwards. She burst through the water, shooting up into the sky. She released the bubble around her and breathed in the fresh cold air as she hovered over the churning waves.

On the beach, it looked like men were attacking Charles.
It was Zane and Lash!
Sarah gasped in horror and flew toward the beach when two strong arms grabbed her around the middle. Sarah screamed in fright.

“It’s okay Sarah. It’s me,” Jericho yelled over the sound of the ocean, holding her back.

“I have to go help,” she yelled back, trying to be heard over the sound of the crashing waves.

Jericho pulled his arms more tightly around her middle and shook his head. “You’ve done enough. Let’s leave Charles to those two.”

Sarah began to struggle in Jericho’s arms and they dipped dangerously near the water and Sarah felt the spray of ice cold water on her legs.

“
Enough Sarah!
” Jericho yelled as they hovered over the water, floating more than flying.

Sarah strained her neck to look over Jericho’s shoulder and gasped as she saw Lash lift Charles over his head before throwing him at Zane’s feet. Zane jumped to stand on Charles’s chest as streams of pale gold energy flowed from his hands down onto Charles’s body. The last thing she saw before Jericho touched his finger to her head was an explosion of light that lit up the beach and an inhuman wail of agony filled her ears. And then she was enveloped in darkness.

Chapter 23 – Into the Light

Sarah woke up to light streaming in through the window in her bedroom and yawned loudly as she stretched under her covers. She didn’t want to move she felt so good. It was as if she’d had an hour massage, a week on a beach and twelve hours of sleep all at once. She’d never felt so good or so energized. She sighed contentedly and opened her eyes slowly, smiling.

“And there she is. Good morning Sleeping Beauty.”

Sarah sat up suddenly, completely awake and completely aware. Every memory from the night before came crashing around her and her heart sped up as she jumped out of bed and turned to face whoever it was standing in her room.

She blinked in surprise to see Jericho sitting in a chair in the corner with a book in his hands.

“
What
. . . ?” she said and then stopped when he held up his hand.

“Please, sit back down. I’ll explain everything, but not while you’re standing there looking like someone’s going to jump out of the closet and start hacking at you,” he said with a twinkle in his eye and a faint smile.

Sarah nodded her head, grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself as she sat on top of her bed. “Where’s Zane?” she asked, knowing he’d be with her if he could. Why was Jericho here instead? She felt sick wondering if anything had happened to him last night.

Jericho shook his head and sighed. “Okay, we’ll do this fast so you don’t start freaking out. Zane is
fine,
now calm your heart rate. He’s,
um
. . . taking care of a few matters this morning and will be back shortly. I’ve been assigned to be your guard dog of the hour. Agnes just left fifteen minutes ago. Everyone figured it was my turn to do something useful,” he said with a grin.

Sarah began to relax and motioned for him to go on. “What happened last night?” she asked softly.

Jericho stared at her with green eyes that had turned deep and dark. “I think you already know, but I’ll refresh your memory if you’d like. You disappeared with Charles right before our eyes and Zane had what you might want to call, a
little
breakdown
. There are a few trees that will never be the same again, if you know what I mean. Later, after everyone is grieving your absence and certain demise, Zane gets the message from you that you’re alive. A few of us head out hunting for you and as we come up on the beach, we see the coolest water dragon I’ve ever seen and then a witch fight like no other. And right when we get ready to charge forward and save the day, you’re flying through the air and then you’re nowhere to be seen. Three minutes later, there’s still no sign of you. At that point, suffice it to say, Zane and Lash lose their temper.
Just a little bit.
I decide to go looking for you, gorgeous girl that you are, and
poof
, up you pop out of the water like a mermaid from Ireland. I grab you in my manly and capable arms and that’s the end of the story,” he said, with a grim look to his eyes that told her plainly that it was definitely
not
the end of the story.

Sarah nodded her head. She had known most of that. What she wanted to know was what had happened
after
Jericho had grabbed her. “Now tell me all the parts you left out,” she said grimly, staring him down.

Jericho sighed and looked up at her ceiling. He ran his long hands through is dark red hair, making it stand up in wavy spikes and then grinned at her. “
No
.”

Sarah blinked a few times and felt a slip of energy glide down to her fingers. Jericho just laughed and stood up. “Temper, temper,” he said and then opened the door.

“I bet by the time you take a shower and come down for breakfast, your knight in shining armor will be back to greet you properly,” he said with a kind smile and then walked out the door, shutting it softly.

Sarah felt like stamping her foot and huffed out an impatient breath. She’d get the whole story. Eventually. She smiled and shook her head. What was she doing?
She was alive.
Zane was alive! She laughed and ran for the shower. Life had just gotten interesting.

She showered and did her hair, taking time with her clothes and make up. She wanted to look perfect for Zane. From what Jericho had said, he’d been a little traumatized yesterday.

She flipped her long, wavy red hair over her shoulder and finished swiping the mascara wand over her lashes. She smiled at the happy girl in the mirror and grinned at herself. Today was going to be a good day. She ran down the stairs and hurried into the kitchen to find everyone in an uproar. Miranda was forcing Jericho to hold her little boy while she picked up her crying daughter. Jericho looked horrified. Sarah giggled at the sight and then saw that Gretchen and Agnes were arguing loudly with Beatrice and the two sisters over who knows what. A few people were lounging around the table, eating bowls of cereal and Ethan was brewing a cup of tea. He turned suddenly and looked right at her, his face breaking into a wide, happy smile.

“Good morning Sarah,” he said simply and all noise ceased.

Agnes of course, was the first to break the silence and ran to her, engulfing her in the hardest, longest hug she’d ever experienced. Gretchen gave up waiting for her turn and just wrapped her arms around the two women. Agnes’s sobs and Gretchen’s tears made Sarah begin to tear up and then everyone in the room had to be in on the group hug. Sarah laughed through her tears, but started to feel claustrophobic. Thankfully someone began pulling everyone off her and then she was in Zane’s arms and she started crying in earnest as she felt the warm liquid of Zane’s tears on her neck.

One of Sarah’s hands was tangled in Zane’s hair with the other locked around his neck and she never wanted to let go. His warmth surrounded her so completely, she felt like she was floating as he rocked back and forth, murmuring low words over and over. His thoughts came into her mind,
You were gone, He had you, I’ve never been so scared, I thought you were dead, He hurt you, Oh Sarah,
he said over and over.

She ended up sitting in his lap and realized that everyone had vacated the kitchen to give them privacy. She held Zane’s face in her hands and looked into his bright silvery eyes and brought his face slowly down to hers and kissed him gently.

“I’m fine now. I’m safe. Everything’s okay,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck again.

Zane shook his head and she could feel shudders rocking his body. “He took you right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything to stop him. I couldn’t protect you. I’m so sorry Sarah,” he said and then crushed her to him again as he hid his wet eyes in her bright soft hair.