The Witches of Glass Castle: Uprising (The Witches of the Glass Castle Series Book 2) (17 page)

Colt smirked. ‘I’ll stop saying
kill
if you stop saying
Jonathan
.’

‘Deal,’ Mia agreed emphatically. ‘But if Jonathan is the person behind this, how can you prove it?’

He frowned. ‘Well, that deal lasted long. All of one second, by my count.’

Mia placed her hands on her hips.

Colt drew in a long breath. ‘I’ll figure it out,’ he answered at last. ‘I need more time, though.’

‘There is no more time!’ Mia cried. ‘Everyone already thinks you...’ she trailed off.

He gave her the smallest of smiles. ‘
Killed
him?’

‘Everyone thinks so.’

‘
Everyone
thinks so?’ he echoed. ‘And are
you
included in this
everyone
?’

Mia swallowed a lump in her throat. ‘No.’

He smiled easily now. ‘Then what does it matter?’

Mia moved closer to him and linked her fingers through his. ‘It matters,’ she said gently. ‘They’ll come looking for you. They probably already are.’

‘I’m not worried.’

‘But—’

‘No one will find me here. And even if they do, the mist is charmed to stop unwanted visitors.’

Mia raised her eyebrows. She didn’t know that he could do that sort of spell. ‘What will happen to them if they breathe in the mist?’

‘Let’s just say they’ll have a
nightmare
of a time.’ He chuckled at his pun.

Mia shivered as the velvet sky above them seemed to hang even more heavily with the dark promise of Colt’s words.

* * *

Dino and Blue hovered at the entrance to the mist maze. They had seen Mia cross the courtyard from the castle and had set off in pursuit, following her trail past the Glass Castle borders and into the dark forest.

‘Now what?’ Dino uttered, pushing back strands of rain soaked hair from his brow.

‘Do you think she went in here?’ Blue asked, motioning towards the corridor tunnelling through the dense fog.

The boys swapped an uneasy look as they hesitated at the entrance of the silvery labyrinth.

Dino groaned. ‘How did we lose her? She didn’t have that much of a head start.’

‘That’ll be her Tempestus p-power working for her,’ Blue guessed. ‘She’s faster than us when it comes to travelling in a storm.’

‘Great,’ Dino grumbled. ‘And what useful powers have we got? My radio tuned permanently into Emotions FM and a couple of lousy buttons. No offence.’

‘Offence taken,’ Blue remarked, then let the jibe pass. ‘So, what do we do now? Should we g-g-go in?’

They returned their attention to the grey mist rising from the damp grass.

‘You got a better idea?’ Dino asked.

Blue wrung out his hands. ‘Go back to the castle and get help?’ he suggested. ‘We could find Amos and—’

Dino rolled his eyes. ‘And in the meantime, Colt gets a free shot at my sister in his...his...whatever
this
is!’

Blue raised his hand to the mist. ‘You think this is C-c-c-c-c—’

‘Who else could it possibly be?’ Dino glowered into the depths of the tunnel ahead of them. ‘This has got Colt
written all over it.’

Blue slowly nodded his head, but no words passed his lips.

‘Let’s do this,’ Dino decided, taking a step forward.

‘Wait!’ Blue cried, grabbing his friend’s arm and pulling him back. ‘A Hunter mist usually has s-some sort of s-spell on it.’

Dino pondered it for a moment. ‘Then maybe you should stay out here,’ he suggested. ‘That way, if I don’t come out, you’ll be able to...I don’t know, notify my mother or something.’

Blue glanced around the shadowy forest. His golden eyes widened in fear.

‘Or you could come in with me,’ Dino offered, sensing his friend’s disinclination to the proposed plan. ‘Safety in numbers and all that.’

Blue nodded quickly. ‘Yes. Yes. That sounds better. Safety in n-n-numbers.’

‘Cool,’ said Dino, patting him on the back. ‘Let’s do this.’ He squared his shoulders and crossed the ethereal boundary into the maze. He could feel Blue following just inches behind him.

As the boys walked deeper into Colt’s lair, the vapour walls moved and bent, ever-changing, manipulating their path with each step.

‘I wonder how far this goes,’ Dino murmured, straining his eyes in the moonlight to see the misted path that stretched out ahead of them.

‘And if we’ll ever be able to find our way back out again,’ Blue added.

Dino looked over his shoulder. He could barely even make out Blue, let alone the path from which they’d come. ‘Where’s a trail of breadcrumbs when you need one,’ he joked.

Blue pursed his lips into a frown.

‘I’ve got it!’ said Dino abruptly. ‘Get that stuff out!’

Blue’s frown lines deepened. ‘What stuff?’

‘You know...’ Dino snapped his fingers, trying to summon the word he was searching for. ‘The stuff that makes buttons.’

‘Ciron thistle,’ Blue supplied for him. ‘It’s conjuring dust.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Dino hurried him along. ‘That. Whip us up a couple of buttons.’

Blue dug through his jeans pocket and produced a small vial packed with a substance that resembled grit and dried mud. He emptied a few grains into the palm of his hand and made a fist around them, then squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Button,’ he murmured to himself. He opened one eye and gave Dino an ironic smile. ‘I’ve never actually
tried
to conjure a button before.’

Dino grinned. ‘Did it work?’

Blue opened his fingers. ‘It worked!’ he cheered. ‘I made a button—on purpose!’

‘There you go!’ Dino celebrated with him. ‘I’m proud of you, buddy. Keep ’em coming.’

Blue dropped the little brown button onto the boggy ground and began the conjuring process again. Ciron thistle, conjure, button, ciron thistle, conjure, button. Soon, a trail began to form through the maze.

As they trooped gallantly on, they were unaware that the mist had slowly begun to trickle into their mouths and noses. It was imperceptible to them as they breathed it in and out like oxygen, ignorant to the fact that it would soon alter their unsuspecting minds with illusions.

Dino was the first to feel its effects. His vision started to twist and speckle, and bright shapes began to float before his eyes. He rubbed his eyelids, blinking hard in an attempt to restore his sight.

‘I can’t see,’ he griped. He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyelids.

‘I think the mist is doing something to us,’ Blue mumbled. ‘I feel dizzy.’ Another button dropped to the ground.

Dino turned towards Blue, but as he did, a sphere of fog came between them like a swinging pendulum bringing a wall of mist in its wake.

‘Blue!’ Dino called. He broke through the foggy barrier with his hands, grasping at air. The enchanted wall forced him back. ‘Blue!’ he shouted again. Only a thick silver wall stared back at him now.

And then he heard his friend’s voice from the other side.

‘There are too many,’ Blue was muttering. ‘Too many. Stop, stop...’

‘Too many what?’ Dino yelled into the mist. ‘What are there too many of, Blue?’

‘Too many b-b-b-b-b...’

Dino tried again. ‘What’s going on, Blue?’

‘B-b-buttons!’ Blue wailed. ‘Help me, Dino! Please! They’re everywhere. They’re b-b-b-burying me!’

Dino charged at the wall of mist between them, but it pushed him back, knocking him to the damp ground.

He staggered to his feet. ‘Blue!’

This time there was no response.

‘
Blue
!’

The sound from behind the wall faded, then vanished. Dino could hear nothing except his own ragged breathing.

He gripped the sides of his head and frantically scanned the pathway. Which way should he go? He had to find Blue!

Suddenly, a new sound ruptured the silence. A scream.

Mia’s
scream.

Dino whirled around, trying to trace the cry.

‘Mia!’ he shouted.

‘Dino!’ her voice came back to him. ‘Save me!’

‘Where are you?’ he bellowed, looking helplessly from left to right.

‘Follow the path!’

The mist bent and formed a new pathway before Dino. In the distance, a shadow took shape. It was Mia—it had to be.

Dino broke into a run, sprinting along the narrow tunnel towards his sister. When she finally came into view, she was looking pale and frightened.

‘Mia!’ Dino called to her, breathlessly. ‘Are you okay?’ He didn’t wait for her to answer. ‘Come on! We have to get out of here! Blue’s missing! We have to find him and—’

Mia took an agitated step away from him. ‘How do I know I can trust you?’ she demanded.

‘What?’ Dino stammered, taken aback. ‘I’m your brother. Of course you can trust me!’

Mia gazed straight through him. ‘Then why is
he
here?’ she asked, pointing at something behind Dino.

Dino spun around. He didn’t know what to expect: Blue, Colt, perhaps even Demetrius. But when his eyes landed on the object of Mia’s attention, his heart nearly stopped in his chest.

Tol.

All of a sudden, Dino was short of breath.

‘My son,’ Tol hissed. His lips pulled back into a warped smile, exposing a crooked set of rotting teeth and a snakelike tongue. His skin was sallow around his sunken black eyes. ‘I knew you would return to me. This is your destiny. Or have you forgotten?’

Dino shook his head feverishly. ‘No. This can’t be. You’re...you’re dead.’

‘I came back for you, my son,’ Tol sneered. ‘You resurrected me. You called for me, and I came back.’

‘I didn’t call you,’ Dino rasped. ‘I would never call you.’

Tol lunged forward and gripped Dino’s face in his cold, bony hand. His gnarled and yellowed fingernails dug into the skin on Dino’s jaw. ‘You may not have called me with your voice,’ he murmured, ‘but you called me with your soul. Your soul is black, my son, and it longs for me to take it.’

‘No!’ Dino choked, frozen to the spot in fear. ‘I’m not evil. I’ve changed. I’m good.’

He felt a hot trickle of blood spill down his throat as Tol’s fingernails penetrated the skin.

Tol laughed menacingly. ‘Impossible. You will never change.’ He dragged his fingernails along Dino’s neck, tearing the skin as they went. ‘Evil is in your blood.
I
am in your blood.’

Dino winced as he felt the collar of his T-shirt become saturated with his own blood—the blood he shared with Tol. ‘I can fight it,’ he seethed. ‘I can resist. I am
not
evil.’

And then he felt something cold and heavy in his grasp.

‘Do it,’ Tol urged, his tongue slithering over his jagged teeth. ‘You want to. I can feel it. I can
see
it in your eyes.
Do
it.’

Dino stared down at the object in his hand and exhaled sharply. He was clutching a dagger.

All of a sudden, he heard Mia’s voice again. She was behind him now.

‘Don’t do it, Dino,’ she begged. She edged closer, reaching out to him. ‘You don’t have to be evil. It doesn’t have to be this way. You have a choice.’

‘Ha!’ Tol roared. ‘Fools! There is no choice. The boy’s path is foreseen. He is dark, just like his father. Now
do
it and join me forever.’

Trembling from head to toe, Dino brought the blade up. His limbs began to move of their own accord, no longer obeying him. He slowly turned to face Mia, then moved quickly, plunging the dagger into her stomach. The sound of his own cries echoed in his ears as he felt the blade sink into her flesh.

She fell forward into his arms.

He let out a breath.

He had done it.  

Nobody’s Dogsbody

Dino held Mia’s lifeless body in his arms as he wept. He had killed her.

‘I’m evil,’ he choked. ‘I’m evil.’

Then, as quickly as Mia had appeared before him in the maze, she disappeared, evaporating into a cloud of mist.

There was a sudden cracking sound, immediately followed by a stinging sensation spreading across Dino’s cheekbone.

He blinked.

Tol was gone. Mia was gone. Now only Siren stood before him, smirking ever so slightly.

‘Hello,’ Siren said before striking Dino across the face for a second time.

Dumbstruck, Dino looked down at his trembling hands. ‘Where’s Mia?’ he managed.

Siren shrugged.

‘Tol’s here,’ Dino rasped. ‘We have to get—’

Siren threw back his head and laughed. ‘To give credit where credit is due, Colt wears insanity well. Who knew he could be so creative?’ He fixed Dino with a crocodile smile. ‘As for you, tortured soul, I think you’ve had enough for one evening.’

He gripped Dino by the scruff of the neck and dragged him through the channels of the maze, then launched him out into the untainted night air of the forest.

Dino fell to the ground next to where Blue was sitting, anxiously rocking back and forth.

‘Buttons,’ Blue muttered, staring into space. ‘Buttons.’

Siren chuckled. ‘My, my. You two are in a sorry state, aren’t you?’ He stood over them with a menacing glint in his raven-black eyes.

‘Where’s my sister?’ Dino’s voice came out hoarse and weak, ragged from the disturbing illusion.

Siren sneered down at him. ‘I’m afraid I don’t understand the question.’

Dino staggered to his feet. ‘Where’s Mia?’ he shouted again, squaring up to the Hunter. ‘Where’s Colt?’

Siren’s eyes narrowed and his sneer turned into a scowl. ‘Arcana,’ he muttered to himself, pushing past Dino and heading back in the direction of the castle.

Dino set off after him. ‘You know they’re out for your blood, too,’ Dino warned him. ‘If Colt’s guilty, then so are you.’

Siren stopped walking, but he kept his back to Dino. ‘Is that so?’ he replied calmly, standing perfectly still amongst the pines.

‘If you’re an accomplice, they’ll—’

‘
Please
,’ Siren scoffed at the implication.

‘What, you think they’ll give you a free pass?’ Dino challenged. ‘Colt’s already been exiled, and it’s just a matter of time before they banish you, too. Or worse, once I tell them what you’ve done.’

Now Siren turned slowly, meeting Dino’s eyes. ‘And what is it that I have allegedly
done
?’ he demanded.

If Siren was rattled, he certainly masked it well.

‘You’re hiding Colt out here,’ Dino shot back. ‘You’re meeting with him in secret, helping him—’

‘It seems to me that I was helping
you
,’ Siren argued. ‘Though why I chose to do so is beyond me.’

‘Why were you out here in the first place?’ Dino retorted. ‘Colt’s already been found guilty. What further business do you have with him?’

Silence.

Sensing a weakness, Dino carried on. ‘Nothing to say, Hunter? Look, the way I see it, you’ve got two options.’

Siren raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, really?’

‘Either you do as I say, and I’ll keep my mouth shut about seeing you out here...’

Siren scoffed again. ‘Or?’

‘Or you’ll have to kill me.’

‘I must say, I prefer the latter,’ Siren replied.

‘From one Sententia to another, I’m willing to take my chances,’ Dino assured, matching Siren’s steely gaze.

The Hunter glowered.

‘Believe me,’ Dino challenged. ‘I’m not bluffing. Can you hear that?’

Siren’s gaze intensified as he listened to Dino’s innermost resolve.

‘What is it that you want?’ Siren snapped at last.

‘Tell me where my sister is.’

Siren let out a sigh. ‘Is that all?’

‘Where is she?’ Dino pressed.

‘With Colt, one would imagine.’

Dino rolled his eyes. ‘Where’s Colt?’

‘With your sister, one would imagine.’

Dino ground his teeth. ‘Where?’

Siren nodded towards the misted maze. ‘Logic would suggest they’re in there.’

Blue approached from behind them, his footsteps crunching across the forest floor. He cleared his throat. ‘May I suggest something?’ he ventured tentatively.

Siren raised an eyebrow and Blue forged on.

‘S-s-since
we
can’t go in there,’ Blue began, ‘maybe y-you could go in for us?’

Dino folded his arms and nodded. ‘Good idea, Blue.’ He turned to Siren. ‘You heard the man. Bring Mia out here to us.’

‘I don’t take orders from Arcana,’ Siren spat. ‘Especially not from two pitiful novices such as yourselves.’

‘We’re not ordering you,’ Dino negotiated. ‘We’re simply asking you for a favour. A favour that we’ll repay. Or else we might just have to mention that we bumped into you out here in the middle of the night, hunkered down with Colt...’

Siren grimaced. He turned away from them while he contemplated their request. After several bated seconds, he exhaled indignantly, then marched back into the forest, shoving past Dino and Blue as he went.

* * *

Seething, Siren charged into the maze. He batted away the clouds of mist in angry swipes. He had to admit it—those Arcana had guts. Especially the girl’s brother. Stupid, sure, but ballsy too. Siren had sensed something there—a courage akin to what he usually sensed only from his coven members. And he didn’t like it.

‘Colt!’ he bellowed.

The mist parted to reveal Colt sitting high up on a sturdy tree branch, lounging against the trunk. In his lap, he cradled the Tome of Black Magic. He looked down when Siren approached.

‘Hello,’ he greeted his fellow Hunter.

‘Don’t
hello
me!’ Siren raged. ‘It’s your fault that I’ve been drawn into this infernal mess.’

Colt cocked an eyebrow.  

‘Arcana,’ Siren elaborated, spitting out the word with distain. ‘They think they can use me as their dogsbody. Sending me on their errands like some sort of...of...’

‘Dogsbody?’ Colt offered.

‘How dare they,’ Siren ranted. ‘
Nobody
blackmails me.’

‘And yet here you are,’ Colt remarked.

‘Yes, I am! For it seems that
I
am to suffer for your wrongdoings! It’s unjust.’

‘Ha!’ Colt scoffed. ‘Their accusations are not my wrongdoings.’ He closed the book and nestled it into a hollow slot in the tree. ‘What do they want this time?’

‘They want their girl back. They’re waiting out there for me to bring her.’ Siren gestured vaguely in the direction from which he’d come.

Colt jumped down from the branch, deftly landing on the ground beside Siren. ‘I don’t have her,’ he answered simply.

Siren cracked his knuckles. ‘Then where is she?’

‘How should I know?’

‘You were with her!’

‘Yes,’ Colt agreed, ‘but as you can see, brother, I’m no longer with her. I’m here,’ he clarified, ‘and she is not.’

Siren gritted his teeth. ‘Perhaps,
brother
,’ he began with forced composure, ‘you will shed some light on her whereabouts so that I may find her and hand her over, thereby removing myself from this unfortunate misunderstanding. The Arcana are threatening to implicate me if I do not return their girl immediately.’

Colt gave an amiable smile. ‘Sadly, I don’t know her whereabouts, so I cannot help you. All I know is that she doesn’t seem to be here.’

‘You’re insufferable.’

‘Anyway,’ Colt went on, ‘would it really be so terrible if you’re exiled also? It could work in our favour.’

‘But I’ve done nothing to warrant banishment!’ Siren exclaimed.

‘You
did
bring me the book,’ Colt disputed. ‘And while we’re on the subject, let’s not forget that
I
have done nothing wrong, either. Although there’s been so much blame placed upon me that even
I
am beginning to question my innocence!’

‘Maybe all your mist is going to your head,’ Siren suggested humourlessly.

‘And while we’re on the subject,’ Colt repeated, ‘perhaps you’d best go out there and tell them that Mia is not here.’ He gestured towards the mist maze.

‘
You
go out there!’ Siren barked. ‘I’m not your dogsbody, either.
You
be the one to tell them that she’s not here.’

‘Hmm...’ Colt pondered it. ‘In fact, Siren, I think I will do just that.’ He turned on his heel and strode into the mist, parting it with a modest wave of his hand. ‘You coming?’ he called over his shoulder.

With a huff, Siren followed.

Together, they stalked through the trees and emerged in a clearing, where Dino and Blue were awaiting Siren’s return.

The boys froze at the sight of Colt.

Dino was the first to recover. ‘Where is she?’ he said tautly. ‘If you’ve hurt her—’

Colt paced swiftly towards him and cut him off. ‘If you want to protect your sister, then I suggest you go back to the castle, since that’s where she is.’ His tone was low and threatening. ‘I
am clearly not there, but the
real
culprit is. Jonathan.’

Dino raised his eyebrows.

‘Shadow
him
if you know what’s good for you.’

‘Jonathan’s missing,’ Dino shot back. ‘And I’m betting you’re involved somehow.’

‘Just find him,’ Colt warned. ‘Find him before he finds her.’