The Witch Is Back (36 page)

A boost of energy and alertness burst through my body, better than a shot of espresso. My head started to buzz excitedly, and my legs wanted to move, and I knew that the concoction was doing its job.

I was going to fight flower with flower.

Taking a running start, I tore through the field of lavender, chamomile, and valerian. At first I felt nothing. Just my surge of vigor and eagerness to go, go, GO! But eventually, the paste began to fall away and the other flowers began to break through my force field, leaving me feeling woozy again.

I willed myself forward, even though my legs had begun to slow, because as tired as I was, I could see the end of the path now. The foliage started to disperse around me, and pretty soon, there were just a few sprigs scattered about.

Finally lumbering to an area free of blooms, I fell to my knees dramatically. Taking in one more whiff of what was left of the paste, I wiped my face clean and then sat there just breathing the normal air.

Talk about flower power.

My bracelet glowed purple and I stood up to meet the last challenge.

As I walked away from the flower patch, six more jewels lit up red, signifying those who hadn't made it to the last round. That meant, out of the thirty of us who'd begun the challenge, only eight were left, including me.

I wished I knew who was still in the competition. Not that it would help anything. There could still only be one winner in the end—and I was determined that it would be me. But, if for some bizarro reason it wasn't, I at least hoped it would be another member of the Cleri or even Colette.

Actually, pretty much anyone except for Brooklyn and her sidekick would be fine with me.

I trudged forward. It had been a long day and I was running out of patience and steam fast. All I wanted to do was wrap this challenge up.

“One to go,” I reminded myself as I speed-walked along the path.

If the obstacles were meant to get harder each time, the last was sure to be a doozy. Would we be dodging firestorms? Swimming through rivers of hungry piranhas? My mind couldn't begin to guess what they had in store for us as a finale.

I just hoped I was ready for it.

Even before I arrived at the top of a hill, I knew this was it. I'd reached the end of the road. What I'd do next would determine whether I won this whole thing or went home a failure. One thing was for sure: if I was going down, I was doing it in a blaze of glory.

The butterflies had been building up in my stomach as I approached the peak, but I pushed them deep down and forced a look of resolve onto my face instead—which immediately fell again once I saw what lay below.

“Well,
that
can't be good,” I said.

Before I could psych myself out, I sprinted down the hill toward the only thing that stood between me and winning the competition.

A giant black hole.

What I'd thought was just a hole in the ground actually turned out to be more like a hollowed-out crater. It extended from one force-field wall to another and was at least forty feet in length. Maybe longer. The point was, it was too far to jump over. Even with Michael Jordan–type skills, no one was getting across.

Also, it was
pitch black.

For some reason I couldn't see past about two feet below my shoes. It was as if light just couldn't penetrate the area. Like I wasn't meant to see what was down below. And
that
was scary.

Stepping into the unknown with no idea what you could be up against? Not my idea of a good time.

I took several steps back and placed my hands on my hips as I thought about my options. Looking around, I tried to find something I could use to cross the open space. But there was nothing. I tried casting a spell to close up the hole, but that was a waste of time. I'd even done a spell to pump water into the area, thinking I could swim across it. But the water just kept coming, while the hole never filled. I sent an orb of light over the edge, but it fell until it disappeared, swallowed up by the blackness like a smothered flame. I placed my hands on top of my head and looked up at the sky in frustration.

Because I'd known all along what I was going to have to do.

“You're
really
gonna make me go in there?” I asked. My hands dropped to my sides dramatically. “
Fine!
Suit yourself. But FYI: bad things tend to happen when I'm in the dark, and I can't be held responsible for what happens next.”

Then, with a flourish, I jumped into the abyss below.

On principle, jumping into a black hole is usually never a good idea, but for some reason it was what the counselors wanted us to do. So I obliged, because . . . well, what other choice did I have?

If I wanted to win, that is.

I have no idea how long I fell, or how far down I went. It was an unusual experience. Like I was entering a place where time didn't exist. I kept waiting for the ground, wondering if not knowing would make landing less awful. Was it better
not
to see the terrible things coming at you? Or did knowing help you to prepare yourself for the inevitable?

The last thing I'd anticipated was water.

I'd expected the hard ground. Or maybe a bed of snakes. Or even goo. But my body slipped through the icy surface of the water, shocking me back to reality. I didn't have time to think, to close my mouth, or take one last breath of air. I disappeared into another kind of darkness, hoping it wasn't forever.

Fighting my way to the surface, I pumped my arms as hard as they would go, knowing that there wouldn't be much time before my air ran out. I counted the seconds that I was under, until finally I broke through and gulped at the air hungrily. Gasping and sputtering, I frantically treaded water as I waited for my eyes to adjust to where I was.

When they didn't, I pushed hard with my left hand and lifted my right one into the air above me.

“Ignatious radiulma!” The words echoed in my ears.

A faint glow began to fill the space around me and within moments, I could see what I was dealing with. It appeared to be an underground cavern. Dark and dank. The kind of place you hoped to never end up. Yet here I was.

The place was so big that my magiclight wasn't quite able to spread to every corner, but it illuminated enough for me to see a shoreline to my left, so I headed for it. When my feet finally touched the ground again, I silently rejoiced and did a sort of runny-jumpy-hop thing until I was back on dry land again.

Shivering in the low light, I started to miss the burning rays of the sun. It was cold down here and being soaking wet didn't help.

“One homemade dryer coming right up,” I said in the dark. I'd never realized how much I enjoyed talking until there was nobody around to listen.

I wonder what that says about me?

I shrugged and said, “Aeromus une cyclenae!”

Immediately, a burst of air whipped around me, pulling the droplets from my skin and clothes and tossing them every which way. Ten seconds later, I was dry again. Not exactly
warm
, but I figured if I got moving, that would change, too.

So I headed in the direction of the only opening I'd seen in the room, pulling the light along with me with magic. The tunnel I walked into was small and it was hard to see where it led. The directions kept changing and every few minutes I'd come to an
L
in the passageway and have to turn another way. But I kept going.

Because I was being led somewhere. Toward who or what, I wasn't sure. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long for my answer, because as I rounded one last corner, I saw a faint light up ahead and walked toward it until I entered a room smaller than the one I'd been in with the mini-lake.

And there, waiting for me, was someone I recognized.

“You,” I said.

“You,” the voice hissed back at me across the darkness. “
Please
tell me I get to kill you now.”

“I highly doubt that's what the counselors had in mind, Brooklyn,” I said, starting to circle the room slowly. “Unless you know something that I don't.”

True, it sort of made sense that the final obstacle would have us competing against each other, but something about this didn't feel right. Call it witch's intuition, but this challenge felt different than the others.

“Scared to have a spell-off with me, Hadley?” Brooklyn asked, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

She was calling me out.

“Is that what we're doing here?” I asked, trying to get her to show her cards.

The truth was, as soon as I'd seen it was Brooklyn, I'd wondered if we were still in the challenge at all or if she'd just lured me down here as some sort of a plan. And if it was the latter, I was actually kind of impressed. It would've taken some crafty magic to get me away from the others, when we were supposedly being watched by most of the camp. But I'd learned through Samuel that if a person wanted something bad enough, they would find a way to make the impossible happen.

Well, they'd try to, at least.

But just like with the Parrishables, I wouldn't go down without a fight.

“Finally sick of coming in second, so you brought me down here to duke it out?” I asked, baiting her. We might've been on her turf, but we were going to play by my rules. “Big mistake.”

“You're the one with
my
sloppy seconds, Hadley,” Brooklyn spat. Her words were filled with venom and the air in the cave seemed to get even colder. “Then again, I suppose it was bound to come to this. Me against you. Fight to the finish. This world's not big enough for the both of us.”

“Omigod, enough with the clichés already!” I said, popping a hip and sounding annoyed. And I sort of was. How could this skinny little thing think she was any match for me? Did she not know who I was? What I could do? “I still have no idea what Asher saw in you.”

I knew it was a low blow, but she'd started this and I was going to do whatever it took to take her down first.

Brooklyn narrowed her eyes at me. “Why don't we end this now?”

“I thought you'd never ask,” I said, falling into a fighting stance.

My adrenaline began to pump as I easily dodged her first spell and it zinged past me. Following it with my eyes, I watched the magic hit the wall and then disintegrate. This was interesting. Her spell hadn't ended in an explosion, which meant she wasn't casting to kill. Was she just trying to play me? Make me underestimate her so she could slip something past me? Whatever the case, I adjusted the spell I was about to cast so that it was less . . . lethal.

“Why so angry, Brooklyn?” I asked, shooting a shocking incantation her way. It barely hit its target, but she flailed a bit before regaining her balance.

One, nothing.

“I mean, besides the fact that Asher's into brunettes now. Well, actually, just
this
brunette,” I said, pointing at myself. “Forget to take your Lexapro this morning?”

Shaking off the shock I'd given her, Brooklyn smiled back. “Me? Angry? Not at all,” she said. And for some reason, I believed her. This caught me by surprise. “It's not like it's
my
friends who are ditching
me
. Talking about
me
behind
my
back. Doing everything they can to get away from
me
. And what about that boyfriend, Hadley? Seen much of Asher lately? I've heard he's been MIA. Now why do you think that is?”