Flames in the Midst (The Jade Hale Series) (34 page)

Sarah did not have a spare bed in the house, but she gave me hers for the night and slept in with her children.  I thought for sure I would toss and turn and lay awake in the night with my thoughts, but exhaustion set in and transported me to my lagoon.  I found Cameron there, sunning himself on my rock.  I ignored him and swam through the cool water, my arms slipping through the cool current as if I were putting on a robe instead of swimming.  We spent what felt like hours ignoring each other.  Then, before I could feel the sensation of being pulled back into consciousness, I had a thought.  I swam to the rock and hoisted myself up so that my body remained in the water but my chin rested on the edge of the solid, warm surface.

“Did you finally want to talk?” Cameron asked with a pleasant smile.  He looked somewhat smug, and yet relieved.

“I just thought you should know something.”

“And what is that?”

“Well, you said this is real, so this message should get to you.  I am not in the woods where your father left me.  I am staying at the Hale house.  You may meet me there in the morning.”  I studied Cameron carefully.  His deeply tanned skin glistened in the sunlight.  His dark features looked stunningly beautiful in the glow of my lagoon.  He smiled at me, the urgency of our last encounter long forgotten.  He stood and walked towards the edge of the rock, where my chin rested.  I thought I should move, in case he was coming close to cut me with another rock or kick me, but I couldn’t feel any particular fear at the moment.  Cameron wore a pair of jean shorts and nothing else.  I listened to his bare feet meeting with the rock as he walked.  He bent down close to me and brushed his lips against my check.  I knew I would hate myself for not averting his movement, but in my lagoon, everything felt serene.  I couldn’t feel what I knew I should.

“I’ll see you soon then,” he said, flashing his smile at me before diving into the water and disappearing.  I let myself fall back into the water and floated on my back with my eyes closed.  When I opened them, Sarah was gently knocking on the door and hurrying in with actual, authentic 1690s clothing for me to wear as I set out to get to the bottom of this.

As I finished changing, I heard a knock on the door.  Sarah’s children were at the table eating.  She answered the door to find Cameron standing on the other side.  I found I had been expecting him.  It did not surprise me at all that my plan had worked.  What did surprise me was that my breath caught in my throat for just a minute when I saw him and my pulse quickened, almost imperceptibly.  I forced my inappropriate feelings into a dark place in my sub-conscious and walked towards Sarah, but she held her hand out.

“Before I let you enter, you must seek solace,” she told Cameron.

“I’m not here for solace.  I’m here to talk to Jade.”

“I have my children to protect.  If you speak the words, then you will be bound to bring no harm to any of this family, including Jade.”  Sarah stood her ground.  It would not have occurred to me to do so because I was thinking only of getting my friend back.  I also felt well protected because Cameron understood I was a firestarter.  He knew I was dangerous.

Cameron sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, giving in to this clever witch. 

“I am a stranger seeking solace,” he said.  I could tell his heart wasn’t in it, but the words were like a spell.  Once you said them, you were bound by an unwritten contract.  You could not hurt the ones who took you in. 

“You may enter,” Sarah told him.  Cameron forced a smile for Sarah, but she did not return it.  Instead, she gathered her children up and left on an errand.  We said a quick goodbye, and we both understood I would not be there when she returned. 

“Can we go get Stefanie, now?” I asked.

Cameron walked over to Sarah’s wooden dining table and sat down.  He motioned for me to join him.

“We need to talk and come to an agreement first.  I can’t take you to Stefanie until we have an official agreement.”

I didn’t move from where I stood by the front door.

“What do you mean by an official agreement?” I asked.

“I have a contract for you to sign, but we need to talk first.”  Cameron didn’t get up.  He motioned for me to join him again.  I moved slowly across the room and sat in the wooden straight-backed chair furthest from him.  Knowing the lagoon was real and Cameron shared that time with me created a deep rift in my emotions.  It felt as if he could look into my most private thoughts.  You don’t expect to have to share your dreams with someone else.  Yet, even though I hated him, I was beginning to wonder if Amy hadn’t been right in wanting to know what his actual involvement had been in the deaths of my mother and Justin. 

“Do you have questions?” he asked.

“I do,” I answered.  I forced myself not to start arguing with Cameron from the beginning.  I wanted to point out that he held the cards.  He needed to just tell me what he was here to tell me and get on with whatever was in this contract.

“So ask,” he said.  I thought for a moment.  My conversation with Sarah last night still stuck out in my mind.  I needed to know who was causing the chaos in Salem.  It wouldn’t change my desire for justice for my mother’s death, but it may change my priorities for the time being.

“Why are you and your father here?” I asked.

“We’re here to stop the witch trials.”  He wasn’t going to do more than answer the question I asked.  I felt like a lawyer interrogating the opposing counsel’s client.

“Who is causing the witch trials?”

“A witch going by the name of William.”

“Why are you and your father trying to stop the trials?” 

The corner of Cameron’s mouth raised in a half smile.  I had hit on something here.  He rocked back on two legs of his chair and ran his fingers through his dark hair.  He looked so casual, like we were discussing the latest American Idol contestants rather than sitting in Salem in 1692 discussing life or death matters.

“You see,” he began, “we are not what you think.  Before I give you your answer, let me ask you, what do you think we are?”

“Shadow Rulers,” I answered without hesitation.

“We are not Shadow Rulers.  My father is a Hunter.”  Cameron leaned forward as he let his words sink in.  I wasn’t sure being a Hunter was better, but it shocked me.  I had never heard of a witch also being a Hunter.  The two were contradicting terms.  I stared at Cameron, not speaking and willing him to continue.

“He believes we should not exist.  He believes our abilities as witches are abnormalities that were passed on genetically because of an error our ancestors made.  He feels these abilities should be removed or those with them should perish.”

Several thoughts ran through my mind.  Why was Cameron telling me this?  Why did he keep saying ‘he believes?’  Did that mean Cameron disagreed with his father?  He wasn’t saying that, but it was somewhere between the lines.  Finally, what did this have to do with our current circumstances?

“So why are you here?” I asked again.

“William has the opposite mission of my father.  He thinks all those who are not witches should perish.  My father came here once before and convinced William to sign a contract removing his abilities.  If he had known how strong William would become, he wouldn’t have given him the option of a contract.  William’s contract was among the contracts you burned in the bar.  Now that he has regained his abilities, he is not willing to part with them as easily.” 

“Is that why you needed me here?” I asked him.

“Yes.  You are the only one who can destroy William at this point.”

“How could your father come here more than once if he already interfered with the Salem Witchcraft Trials before?” I couldn’t figure this one out.

“He had a different time traveler bring him here.  Before me,” Cameron explained.  I thought I caught a hint of misery in Cameron’s voice, but I wasn’t certain.

“Do you agree with what Evan is doing?” I had gotten off topic, but I suddenly had to know.  Cameron paused.  He stared out the window into the late morning sun.

“I’m not sure,” he finally answered.  “I thought what he was doing, hunting witches, was wrong.  That’s part of why I wanted you to burn the contracts.  Now, I don’t know.  It turns out William is just the beginning.  There are many more witches out there who were freed from their contracts and were able to become Shadow Rulers or worse.  Maybe there is something to his being a Hunter after all.”  Cameron did not look at me until he was done speaking.

“Hunting all witches is not okay,” I said as coolly as I could manage.  “My mother was a good person.  Stefanie is a good person.  How can you help him hunt witches?”  Oddly, I felt betrayed in some obscure way.

“I have to obey my father,” Cameron tried to explain.  “I have no choice.”

“That’s ridiculous.  He’s an evil man.  Stopping someone like William cannot make up for all of the good people he has killed.”

“Maybe not,” Cameron conceded.  “Then again, maybe there is no sacrifice too large for the good of the many.”

Cameron reached inside his coat and pulled out several sheets of paper.  In order to save Stefanie, Evan wanted me to enter into a contract with him.  Magical contracts could be burned by a firestarter, but not if the firestarter has signed the contract.  I would have a choice to make with my friend’s life as the prize to either claim or forfeit.  I felt like Cameron’s words about sacrifice applied to me as much as they applied to his view of his father.

The first contract he showed me required my help regaining the contracts I had destroyed.  All of them.  I couldn’t do that, not for anyone. 

“I don’t want to forfeit Stefanie’s life, but I can’t help Evan with anything else.  I will agree to help go after William, but I cannot undo everything I accomplished that night in the bar.  I cannot hunt down all of those witches with him, regardless of their guilt or innocence.”  I held my breath and waited.  I prayed Cameron would have another option ready.  I wanted to save Stefanie, but the cost of letting Evan and Cameron go was already steep enough.

As it turned out, Cameron had several contracts, all of which Evan had already signed.  When I signed one contract, I would be bound by it.  After much debate, we came to an agreement; I would help Evan and Cameron in either destroying William or using my gift to convince him to sign another contract.  Evan wanted to gain William’s abilities if we could persuade him to sign another contract.  I refused to agree to those terms.

We eventually agreed on a contract that would not give William’s abilities to Evan.  Rather, it would disperse his abilities to all witches.  I would not agree to help with any other contract.  I was bound to work with Evan without hurting him.  We were entering a truce that would come to an end twenty-four hours after the situation with William had been resolved.  As soon as the situation was resolved, Cameron would bring me Stefanie before that twenty-four hour grace period had ended. 

I lifted the quill we had borrowed from John Hale’s desk and dipped it in ink.  I hesitated, unsure if I was doing the right thing.  Cameron urged me on.

“They are already pressing Giles Corey, as we sit here passing the time,” he said.

I thought about Giles Corey, the man who refused to stand trial.  They piled rocks on top of him until he died.  When they asked him to enter a plea, he simply replied, “More weight.”  The accusations and hangings escalated quickly after Corey’s death.  We had to act now.  I lifted the quill, took a deep breath, and signed my first contract as a witch.  Cameron signed the contract as well.  It bound us all, so there could be no double crossing on anyone’s part.  I had just agreed to
a deal with the devil. 

Once we had sealed our fates, Cameron and I left the Hale house.  I looked back at the neat, wooden, two-story house and thought of my ancestors etching out their daily existence in this time.  I was not only protecting Stefanie by entering into this contract; I was protecting Sarah and her children.  I was protecting the people who would be able to continue their lives, never knowing how close they had come to being accused and facing the gallows.

We walked nearly two hours to reach the place where Cameron and Evan were camping out on the outskirts of Salem Village.  I looked around their quaint camp.  There was a small cabin set behind some trees.  I knew instantly they had not toiled relentlessly under any burning sun to build it.  Evan had been the one to design the spell on the bar to mask the spacious hideaway behind it.  He had certainly conjured up this little place for the two of them to wait for my arrival.  It lay well off any traveled path, but they probably had spells on it so no one wandering off the path would notice it.

Evan waited for us inside the cabin.  I did not see Stefanie anywhere, but I had no choice but to trust she was safe and I would see her when this was all over.  They were bound by our contract the same as me.

“I thought she might have declined,” Evan spoke to Cameron first.  “Well, let me see it.”  He held out his hand for Cameron to hand over the signed contract.  Cameron passed him the paper condemning me to hell.  Who agrees to help their mother’s murderer—regardless of the circumstances?  I felt like I should be among the accused of Salem awaiting the gallows. 

The sight of Evan brought with it a wave of emotions.  I wanted to plunge a knife into his flesh and watch him die in agony.  I wanted to localize my gift and burn him bit by bit so he could suffer for what he had done.  I wanted to back out of the contract so I would be free to do these things and worse.  I didn’t feel this intense hatred for Cameron, but his father’s presence immediately invoked it.  I sensed why Amy had worried for me.  This was the type of hatred that could consume a person so completely as to leave him changed for all eternity.  I could feel the danger of becoming someone else, someone I didn’t want to become, if I simply stepped over the precipice in front of me and let the anger and hatred swallow me up.