The Zodiac Collector (20 page)

“Guys?” Evan thrashes in the woods to our left.

“Is Mary with you?” I get on my hands and knees.

“No.” Evan replies. “She with you?”

“No, man, she's not,” William replies.

“Mary!” Why isn't she answering? My heart thrums in my chest and my lungs tighten. I topple like a house of tarot cards and roll on my back. Air. I need air. She could be hurt and here I am gasping for oxygen like a weakling. “Where is she?” I sob. “Mary!”

“She has to be close.” William leans over me and wraps an arm around my waist.

“She's gone.
Gone.”

“Hey, shhh, it'll be all right. We'll find her.” William brushes flyaway strands of hair from my face and cups my cheek with his palm. “Just breathe, Anne. Breathe.”

I cough-gasp and concentrate on his face, his eyes, his mouth.

“Breathe. In and out.” He's so calm. Strong. Solid.

Tears blur my vision and I rapidly blink them away.

He traces a thumb along the edge of my bottom lip. “Feel the air going into your lungs.”

I close my eyes and listen to the sound of his voice, savor the sweetness of his breath against my skin, and allow the closeness of his body to envelop me in comfort.

“Better?”

“Yeah.” And it is. I'm breathing normally again.

I sit up. William shifts behind me so I can rest against him. The adrenaline from struggling to breathe is leaving my system and I feel drained, almost flattened out like a used tube of toothpaste. Yet my heart continues to pound. It rivals any drum solo I've heard pouring out of Mom's workshop.

William rubs my arm. “Can you stand?”

“I don't know. Maybe?”

He does a crane impression and hoists me upright. I have to lean into his rock-hard abs for balance. Giving into the cocoon formed by his arms, I rest my forehead against his chest and inhale his woodsy, clean scent.

The moon, which had lit our path earlier, slips behind the clouds, and the night resembles fresh tar. My body trembles and tears burn at my eyes. “Why did Mary call on the twins?”

William fumbles with the flashlight and finally flicks it on. “Maybe she thought it would help.”

This is all Z's fault. “Zeena! Show yourself.” A low rumble of thunder travels overhead. I stomp along the path, grinding my heels into the loose pebbles as I go. My ankle twists and I teeter to the side.

“Whoa, easy.” William catches me. I collapse into him, throwing my arms around his waist. It's that or drop to my knees. He pulls me closer. I settle against his shoulder, absorbing his warmth. I bite my lip. Mary's gone and I'm thinking about being close to William. Well, this is the first time a boy has put his arms around me, you know, in a white knight sort of way. Heat flares in my cheeks.

“I have to find Mary.” I squeeze him tighter, then peel myself out of his grip reluctantly. Limping into the forest, I grimace at the sharp jabbing pain in my ankle. I call out Mary's name every couple of steps. The farther I go, the more the agony of losing Mary slithers through my guts.

Despite the darkness, I rush through the wild bushes, tripping over fallen branches and roots. Without William at my side, I slam to my knees, but launch up again in a flash, ignoring the burning ache of scrapes and bumps.

“Anne, wait up!” William crashes behind me.

I'm running with my hands held out in front of me. Sharp branches scrape my arms. I dip to the left and collide with something solid. Whatever it is collapses and I fall onto—

“Oof!” It's Evan. “Anne?”

“Evan? Where's Mary?” I push myself up off his chest and stand.

William catches up and locks the flashlight beam on us.

“I don't know. I can't find her.” Evan pops to his feet and brushes loose dirt off his clothes.

“Sorry I smacked into you.” I wince.

William reaches out and picks a leaf out of my hair. “The old woman's gone too, that's for sure. If she was still around, we'd have seen her.”

I nod, my throat growing thick again. Calling on Castor and Pollux might bring Zeena to us for another tussle. Then again, if I find her, I might find Mary.

I spin in a circle, trying to right myself. “Which way to the path?”

William points behind us.

I stride past him.

He and Evan scramble to follow.

“Where are you going?” William lights the path with the flashlight.

“To Z's. She might be there.”

“Is that a good idea?” Evan's voice sounds pinched and tight.

I halt and face him. “It's the only one I've got. You don't have to come, but I have to find Mary, and I bet that old witch knows where she's at.”

His Adam's apple bobs up and down. He nods. “I'm coming with you.”

“So am I.” William clasps his fingers with mine and gives my hand a squeeze.

I stare up at him. His eyes are dark and serious. “Thanks.”

“We're in this together.”

Zeena's shop is dark when we get there. Not a good sign. I test the door—it's unlocked. The sorceress could be waiting to trap us, but I don't care. I blast inside.

“Mary, are you here?” My voice bounces back to me.

William jerks the flashlight beam around the small shack.

The shoppe is completely empty. No jars, no candles, no odds and ends. Everything is gone. Even Zeena's chair and laptop.

“How'd she pack up so fast?” Evan's mouth hangs open.

“Magick.” I slump to my knees. If I hadn't opened my spellbook, if I hadn't been so mad at Mom for ruining our birthday every year, if I hadn't tried to call on Castor and Pollux, then maybe we'd never have met Zeena.

And I'd still have my sister.

“I'm so stupid.” I barely get the words because I'm sobbing like a baby who's lost her pacifier.

William's warm hands cover my shoulders like a blanket. “It's not your fault.”

“Of course it is. This whole spell thing was my idea. Z wouldn't have gotten her hands on her… None of this would have happened if I had just…” I snort in a breath. So not attractive.

“It's okay. Maybe Mary's just wandered deeper in the woods and can't hear us…or something.” He rubs his hands up and down my arms. When did he get so perfect?

“Really?” I sound like a kid who lost her balloon and her dad just told her she could get a new one.

“Yeah. Let's retrace our steps. We'll find her.” He hands his flashlight to Evan. With more confidence than a chivalrous knight, he extends his hands and helps me up. Again, I catch myself staring into his perfect eyes. He smiles, but it's not a happy one. It's a gee-I-hope-I'm-right-or-things-really-are-that-bad kind of smile. Not reassuring at all.

“M-m-maybe the Gemini twins will help us find her.” I wipe fresh tears away.

“We can try that. What do I need to do to help?” William doesn't let go of my hands.

“We need to invoke your sign in order to call on your power.” My mind whirls with words and chants, guilt and pain, and I crumple all over again.

William presses a hand to my lower back. “Then that's what we'll do.” He glances at Evan. “You in?”

Evan rubs his jaw. Then his gaze locks onto mine. “Tell me what I have to do.”

“I need supplies.”

“Like what?” William asks.

“My spellbook, candles, stardust…everything. It's all at home.”

“Your parents will be up.” William shakes that unruly lock of hair from his eyes.

I check my watch. It's midnight. “I can sneak in. If Mom's working…” I leave out drunk as a possibility. “She won't notice, and Dad will be asleep.”

“Are you sure?”

“We have to try. I have to do whatever I can to get my sister back.”

“Let's go,” Evan leads the way.

William walks next to me. His confident, calm energy is an ointment for my wounds. His soft, but firm, grip on my body when he held me up, the way he talked me through my asthma attack, and his unquestioning commitment to helping me find Mary… It could all be in my head, but he's acting more than best-friendish.

On the main path, I catch a glint of something shiny at the trail's edge. It could be anything—a bit of tin foil, a tab from a soda can, or a discarded faire coin. I halt. An invisible wall blocks me from taking another step while a persistent tug jerks the base of my spine. I lift my foot and extend my leg forward. The sensation rockets up to settle in my neck. It drags me back. I have to look again.

I latch onto Evan's arm and swing the flashlight toward the way we came. A trinket lies on the ground, nestled in decaying leaves. I pick it up and examine it in the light. Its silver metal is shiny, not dull. One side is smooth, but the other is jagged and sharp, like part of it was broken off. I run my finger on the rough edge and nearly puncture my skin. “Strange.”

“Looks like the letter I.” William peers over my shoulder. His breath warms my neck.

I take in a shaky breath and close my eyes for a moment to compose myself. I flip the thing over. It doesn't have a pin glued on the back and doesn't have a loop or anything to attach it to a necklace, so it's probably not jewelry.

“Any Zodiac symbols look like this?” Evan jabs at the thing with his index finger. Each tap reverberates in my soul like an electric shock. Weird.

I close my fingers around the symbol. The jolts stop. Double weird. “It could be half of the Gemini symbol.”

“What does that mean?” Evan stuffs a fist in his pocket.

“Z chanted a spell that turned Shequan into the Aries symbol. What if…?”

“What?” William turns his flashlight into my face.

I swat him away. “What's the first rule of using a flashlight? Don't shove it in someone's face.”

He snickers. “Sorry. I keep forgetting.”

I hold the symbol between my thumb and forefinger. It buzzes with some unnatural force. “What if this is Mary?”

Evan stiffens.

The vibrations can't be in my head. I hand it to William. “Take this. Tell me what you feel.”

His brow furrows, but he accepts it and cradles it in his palm. After staring at it for a full minute, he shakes his head. “Nothing. Why?”

I pluck it from his hand. The quaking resumes. “Castor and Pollux, what have you done?”

Lightning flashes and a tearing crack of thunder shatters the night.

“Whoa.” Evan sounds just like that dude in
The Matrix
.

“Is this my sister?” I hold up the symbol, as if showing it to the Gemini twins, like they can see it from the sky. Their constellation isn't even visible from our position on the planet, but whatever.

Thunder sweeps overhead. It sounds like an old man grumbling.

Or twins arguing.

Chapter Seventeen

S
ure enough, the bay window of Mom's workroom is open and the whine of an angsty singer streams out. She says music keeps her moving, but really the mania keeps her moving. She doesn't need any help.

At least the noise provides some cover so we don't have to creep up the stairs. I usher William and Evan to the far side of the porch. My gaze falls on the spot I'd first used stardust and made a candle disappear.

I tug on a loose strand of hair, yanking on stringy thoughts frizzing in my brain. “The stardust worked better when Mary's blood was mixed in with it.”

William dips his chin. “Are you serious?”

“It's an offering, a sacrifice. If we each add a drop of blood to the dust, we can—”

“Blood. You need my blood.” Evan collapses on the bench and tightens his hands into fists.

“Just a drop to mix with the stardust. It works better than everything else I've tried.” I tell them about the yellow orbs and how they absorbed into my skin, gifting me with Zodiac power.

“You said Z gave you the dust. Can you trust it?” William leans his butt against the railing and grips a nearby column. His head taps against a hanging basket of geraniums. He ducks and slides to the side, rubbing his scalp.

I shrug. “The stardust itself isn't bad because Mary and I did a good spell with it. Besides, it works, and what other choice do we have?”

“You promise, just a drop?” Evan chews on his bottom lip.

I glare at him. “This is for Mary. I thought you cared about her?”

He shoots to his feet. “I do. Mary's awesome. She's smart, pretty, and she laughs at my stupid jokes.” He rubs his spiky hair and licks his lips, as if priming himself for a big reveal. “I've never met anyone like her. I only decided to join William on the jousting team so I could see her more at the faire. Pretty lame, huh?”

My rage flees like a cockroach running from a can of Raid. “It's not lame at all. In fact, that's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard.”

He scuffs his foot along a worn floorboard and nods. “Thanks.”

William clears his throat. The perfect opportunity to jump track and hop onto a new rail of conversation so Evan doesn't have to stay all exposed and vulnerable under our dissecting stares.

“So what's your problem with blood?” I ask.

He grinds the toe of one shoe to the other. “I…” He gulps.

“What?”

“I faint.” He tucks his chin to his chest, then sneaks a peek at me through his eyelashes.

“Oh.” I've heard of blood phobia before. Guess I over-judged. “Well, you can keep your eyes closed.”

He puffs his cheeks like he might spew. “Uh-huh.”

William's eyes are wide. “Dude, I didn't know you were scared of blood.”

“Well, it's not something I like to share.” Evan drops down on the bench.

It's time to pull this train into the station, so I carry on. “Once I sneak in and get what I need, we can mix our blood with the stardust, invoke your Zodiac signs, and pool all our powers together to help bring Mary back. It might overwhelm Z. She'll never see it coming.”