Magick (Book 3 in the Coven Series) (15 page)

“Sounds like a good idea.” I don’t move as Sarah pulls a key from her desk drawer. She slips it into what looks like the spine of a book on the shelf behind her. I’m not even surprised when the shelf slides to the left to reveal a large safe.

“Cool,” Egan says.

I roll my eyes. The boy does love gadgets.

Sarah slips the Beginning and Ending books into the safe then closes the door. “If you need these for any reason, just ask.” After the bookshelf slides effortlessly back into place, Sarah turns toward us.

Not needing any prompting, I turn and lead the way to the training room.

After an entire afternoon of nonstop practicing my magic with not much sign of the awesome power of the white witch, I growl in frustration. I can tell Keller is about to say something supportive, but I’m not in the mood. I wave off whatever he’s about to say and pace the length of the room a couple of times.

“Do you think you have to be in a life-or-death situation to grasp it?” Toni asks. “Like you were at Shiprock?”

I throw up my hands. “I don’t know. I can feel it there, but it won’t come to the surface.” I shake my head and pace again. “Maybe I was wrong about the love fueling it.” I hate the idea of the darkness being stronger than what Keller and I feel for each other.

Sarah pushes away from where she’s been leaning against the far wall. “Give me your hands.”

I shoot her a curious look but do as she says. When she starts to remove one of my bracelets, I jerk my arm back. “What are you doing?”

“I think Toni’s on to something. The only other time you tapped fully into that white power was after you’d blown through the dark. I think you’ll never be able to pull the white to the surface if you can’t access the dark first.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Is it?” Sarah crosses her arms but doesn’t back away. “From what you said, the time at Shiprock freaked you out so much that you shut the white magic off. You were too afraid of the dark to really push through it.”

“You know what I’m capable of when I go dark.”

“And I believe you’re capable of so much more if you’ll just trust yourself, trust what you were born to be.”

Egan walks up next to me. “Think about it, Jax. The times when the white magic has surfaced, even at the edge of the dark, was when you were engaging the dark magic. No other time.”

I press my hand against my forehead. “I think I feel sick.” But despite the lightheaded, nauseated feeling, I know I have to try what they’re suggesting. It might just be crazy enough to work. “I’ll do it, on one condition. I don’t want anyone else in the room. You can stand outside, but I want a magical barrier put on the open doorway so I don’t accidentally hurt someone.”

“No problem,” Sarah says. “I’m also going to put an extra layer of warding on this facility, too. Your magic doesn’t seem to work like everyone else’s, and I don’t want your cousin finding us before we’re ready.”

I nod. “Good idea.”

“It’ll take about thirty minutes to get the second layer of warding in place,” Sarah says, then leaves the room to get to work.

“Egan, I need you to reach out to the person who’s been contacting you about wanting to defect from her coven,” I say. “Ask how many there are and if they’re really serious. Serious enough to not just leave but fight the covens.”

“You sure?” he asks.

“Yeah. I’m going to do my best to access all the power I have, but I’m not opposed to more help on our side.”

“What happens if they say yes?” Keller asks.

I keep my attention on Egan. “Can you put up some sort of surveillance at the farmhouse, something we can monitor from here?”

“Yeah. Will take me about a day.”

“Plan what you need and get it done tomorrow.” I look at Keller. “We lead them to one spot, see if they’re telling the truth. If they are, we use them. If they’re lying, we take them out the same as any other witch who shows his or her face here.”

When Toni and Egan leave to get started on his video surveillance plan, I turn to Piper. “I want Rule and Adele brought here, and don’t give them any choice. I’ve already lost one of them. I won’t lose any more.”

“I’ll take care of it.” She hurries from the room, leaving only Keller and me.

He smiles as he closes the distance between us. “You’ve turned into a general right in front of my eyes. I feel like I should salute you.” He does just that with a wide smile on his face. I swat at his saluting hand, but he catches my arm and pulls me to him.

I place my palms against his chest. I love the firm, warm feel of him. “You really think I can do this?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Let’s hope I don’t blow this place up in the process.”

“Maybe you just need a kiss for good luck.”

I look up into his eyes. “Couldn’t hurt.”

His lips meet mine, sending sparks dancing over my skin that have nothing to do with my magic. He moans into my mouth, making me want nothing more than to wrap myself in him and not come up for air in the foreseeable future.

He’s the one who has to break the kiss. It takes me a moment to realize why, but then I hear the footsteps coming down the hallway. I know he doesn’t want to pull away any more than I do, but we can’t exactly indulge what we’re both yearning for right now. There is so much we have to deal with and put behind us before we can even talk about going down that road.

With a sigh, I step out of his arms. “Well, here goes everything.”

Sarah and the rest of the Bane congregate outside the room. Toni and Egan follow a moment later, though I notice Egan is partially distracted by whatever is on the tablet screen in his hands. I nudge Keller out of the room to join the others.

“Remember, all of you stay out here, ready to slam the doors and run if you have to.” I’m overly aware of the squeak of my sneakers on the floor as I turn and walk to the center of the room. I shake my arms to alleviate some of the anxiety pulsing in me like another heartbeat.

“Don’t focus on fear,” Sarah says as she approaches me. “Keep your mind on the light. Think of the darkness as a road you have to travel to reach it.”

I laugh a little when AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” pops into my head. When Sarah looks at me with a question in her expression, I wave it away. “Sorry.” When I glance at Keller, he winks at me. Just when I thought he couldn’t make me melt any more inside.

After Sarah removes one of the bracelets, I stop her before she can remove the second. “Let me try it like this first.”

She nods then joins the others.

“Okay, here we go.” I fling my hands out palms up, and energy forms effortlessly at my fingertips. I let everything inside me rush to the surface, and suddenly it’s like a tornado in the room with swirling wind and crackling lightning. I sense the lightness deep inside me and reach for it. But each time I try to grasp it, it slides farther away. I force more power down my arms and out into the room. I sense all the expectant gazes on me, the mentally crossed fingers. But no matter how many times I reach for the white magic, it refuses to be caught.

Anger replaces my determination, and my vision begins to darken. Sarah’s words come back to me. Travel it like a road. My feet lift off the floor as I envision that road and imagine myself floating down it.

That’s it, let go.

I cry out and drop to the floor. I stalk across the room and barely keep myself from punching the wall. A broken hand isn’t exactly what I need right now.

Keller starts to enter the room. “Jax.”

I hold up a hand. “Nope. I’ve got this.” As soon as he retreats, I immediately call upon my magic again and force it as far as it will go. But each time I feel like I’m about to tap into something greater, I feel like I bounce off an invisible wall. When I finally stop trying, I’m sweating like I’ve run a marathon through Miami in July. When I raise a hand to wipe the sweat away from my forehead, I catch sight of the bracelet on my arm.

“Damn it,” I say under my breath, cursing the fact that Sarah and the others were likely right. I look out at the curious faces watching me. “The bracelet’s got to go.”

“But that’s the only thing keeping you from going totally dark witch,” Amanda says.

“Exactly.” I meet Sarah’s eyes, and she gives me a nod.

Keller does come into the room this time. He walks straight toward me and takes my hands.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to be your anchor, so you remember who you really are,” he says.

“You’re a crazy fool, Keller Dawes. But I think that’s why I love you so much.”

His smile makes me want to forget magic and drag him off somewhere private.

Sarah steps up beside us. “You’re going to need every bit of focus you have.”

I nod my understanding.

She places her hands on my wrist, and in the space of a breath the bracelet slips off and a well of darkness floods my body.

“Look at me, Jax,” Keller says as he gently squeezes my hands. “Focus on the good inside you.”

I fight the demands of the dark magic swirling inside me like a bubbling cauldron. I begin to shake with the effort of not giving in, but Keller squeezes my hands more firmly. I focus on where our hands are joined and imagine a white light there. Once I see it and it steadies, I force it from my hands to my wrists then up my forearms.

The darkness lashes out at me, causing the light to recede. I almost give up, but Keller’s hands are still there giving me strength. I can’t let him down when he believes in me enough to put his life at risk.

It feels like I’m at war as I beat back the darkness inch by inch, replacing it with light. With each advance I make, it grows a bit easier to hold it steady. That is until I’m about halfway through. Then the demon darkness inside of me roars and starts clawing at me like an angry lion, telling me that I will need it someday. My knees go weak, but Keller shifts his hands to my forearms and keeps me upright. And at the edge of my awareness, I feel Egan, too. He’s focusing all his energy on the light inside me as Toni holds his hands.

I smile, and my heart suddenly feels as light as a balloon. The darkness takes another swipe, but I ride the wave of its anger closer to the light. It’s getting brighter, stronger. I’m not going to listen to the dark part of myself. I choose light.

“Step away,” I whisper to Keller.

“Never.”

“No, I need you to. It’s good.”

He hesitates, but he must sense I’m okay and gradually slips his hands from my arms. The darkness laughs with pure evil, robbing me of some of the light. I wait until Keller is out of the room before I close my eyes and tunnel all of my energy toward the center of the darkness and fire light straight at its heart. As I keep up the barrage, my hair lifts in all directions and my feet drift from the floor. I stretch my arms out to my sides, feeling like I’m floating on a cloud.

My eyes pop open as I explode in bright white light. Only this time, I don’t let the lingering darkness frighten me or keep me from reaching even farther. I let myself burn bright as a star as the darkness begins to fade little by little. The demon’s screams grow fainter, the dark’s hold on me weaker. Everything suddenly seems more beautiful than I could ever imagine. The dark makes a last-ditch effort to assert control, but it’s too late. With one last surge, the dark disappears.

The storm swirling around me calms, and I drift slowly down until my feet touch the floor. My hair settles back into place, and the crackling energy recedes from the edges of the room and back into me. The quiet in the room is absolute. Everyone is looking at me as if they can’t believe their eyes.