The Zodiac Collector (30 page)

William swings my arm. “Will it help if I chant with you?”

I nod. “Yes.”

Mary joins us. Her voice buzzes in my skull as William's and mine echo into the night. Our combined efforts drive the wind from a stiff breeze to a body-slamming gust that pushes and pulls at us at the same time. Air is forced up my nose, and down my throat, and debris from the ground flies at us from all around. Dirt gets into my mouth. Grit coats my tongue and sticks to my teeth. William ducks and tries to rub his eyes. I drag him ahead, refusing to give up.

His weight is against me. Our bodies touch from stem to stern. We're glued together. My toes curl. A guillotine of air slices the molecules between us and we fall apart.

“William!” I scream, flailing my arms. I catch the hem of his shirt.

Our gazes lock.

Another gust rips my hand away from him and we're carried in opposite directions. I'm twirled, spun, twisted, and beaten like pretzel dough. After about a dozen somersaults, I topple onto the ground square on my back. Streaks of pain wrap around my torso.

Mary pats my back—on the inside.
She's here
.

“William! Where are you?” I bleat.

Oh, miracle of miracles, he's at my side pulling me up. “Are you okay?”

“I'm alright. You?”

“A little windswept.”

I smirk.

A thick bolt of lightning snaps nearby. It flashes again and a hunched figure emerges from the trees. The blustering wind attacks her robe, whipping the fabric around her legs. Her gray hair flies loose from her hood. She shoves it out of her face and trains her eyes on me. They glow an angry red, raging with a fire all their own.

“How dare you call upon the twins, you little witch! And Libra? Silly boy, the Scales are no match for my power,” she roars. “All the signs belong to me. Just like you. Just like your sister. And just like your friends.”

“Reverse the spell, Zeena!” I call back, fingers digging into William's waist as I strain to hold on.

“Castor and Pollux, what do you think of this little girl telling me what to do?” She throws her head back, arms raised to the sky.

The twins answer her by dumping rain. A deluge of water hits me like a million simultaneous rubber-band snaps. I nestle into William's shoulder and he ducks his head.

“Come to me, children. And you can all be together forever.” She cackles, lowering her arms until they are stretched toward us. Though I can't see her legs move, she approaches like a leaf pushed along by the wind. Guided by unnatural speed, she's within inches of us before I can blink. She buries her fingers in my hair and pulls me from William's arms.

“William, don't let go!” I cry.

Zeena tosses me to the ground like a discarded rag. She points her index finger at him and chants:

A light wire shoots out her index finger and impales him in the chest. He grimaces and drops to his knees.

“William!” I cry.

He yells, and then he is gone.

Lightning strikes a transformer nearby, sending sparks across the sky in arcs of orange. My eyes and nose run from the sting of melted metal. Despite the rain, flames trickle along the electric pole and slice along the wires, cocooned in a shroud of billowing smoke.

Without Zeena to provoke it, the rain trickles to a stop, the wind settles, and the lightning and thunder cease.

My breath rattles in my chest and oozes out of my mouth. I cover my mouth with a shaky hand to strangle a yell. The memory of Zeena's touch makes my skin crawl.

Mary cries. Tears slide down my cheeks, matching hers.

I close my eyes and peer inward. “Mary, can you tell where Z is?”

She sniffs.
No
.

“You're scared. It's okay, but I need you to try to find her. Please.”

I can't
. Mary shakes her head. My brain sloshes with it. I open my eyes and find something to focus on to stop the swirling.

“Yes. You. Can. Do this for William. For me. For yourself. If Z catches me, we're all goners.”

Mary tightens and my spine tingles with fury.
Okay, I'll do it
.

She stretches out like tendrils from a spider web swaying in a midnight breeze. My own spirit tries to follow, but it's trapped in my body. I'm thankful that we have an anchor, but also worried what will happen if I let go. Will I die? Will she die if she lets go? Will we be trapped in the spirit world with our bodies wandering around zombified like Shequan's?

Wiry arms wrap around me. The scent of death and rot fills my sinuses. “I've got you now.”

I scream.

I'm sorry!
Mary cries.

Zeena chants, the sound is distant, even though she's holding onto me with an unforgiving grip. I struggle and buck against her. She's an old woman. I should be able to peel myself from her claws.

“Castor—” I yelp.

She cuts me off by clamping a cold hand over my mouth. “Hush.”

A paralyzing chill spreads down my throat, over my arms and legs, and ties me to the ground. I tighten my muscles, but my body doesn't respond.

Mary!
I scream inside my head.
Chant something like last time. You got us away from the cops, you can get us away from Zeena
.

She's deadly silent, unmoving, sitting like a marble statue on my vertebrae.

Zeena waves a small object in front of my eyes. It's the symbol for Libra, the scales.
William
.

“I have to thank you, Anne. Without you, I would not have completed my collection so easily. You see, I couldn't just take anyone. They had to show proficiency with contacting the stars. Poor Shequan discovered that the hard way, and Evan, thank you for bringing him to the Zodiac. Brave William proved himself so valiant by helping you. A mighty Cardinal sign and a wonderful addition to my collection.”

I squirm, hot tears slithering down my cheeks.

“Don't move.” She chants again.

My feet root into the earth, my heart slows, and a heavy tiredness draws my eyelids shut. Next, my thoughts creak to a halt. The world slips further away—there's no sound, no smells, nothing.

Zeena plants both hands against my back and gives me a shove.

I'm falling and condensing all at once. Spinning uncontrollably, my body contorts and writhes, free from the bonds of nature but tethered to an even more powerful force—Zeena.

Her voice echoes in the void. It cuts through the whooshing vortex. I open my eyes. Yellow smoke spirals around me, forming a funnel that pulls me down, down, down toward a gleaming metallic object forming into a symbol. I've seen it before.

II

The Gemini symbol.

My arms coil tightly around my body. Clenching my abdominal muscles to twist counterclockwise away from the spin, I slow my progression, but only slightly. The wind howls louder, compressing my ears, stuffing into my nose and lungs. I squeeze my eyes shut and slide my arms up but they seem glued to my sides. I grunt with the effort—one finger, two, now my hands are loose.

My feet touch the trinket. A
crack!
grabs my attention and I look down. The symbol has split open, emitting a light so bright it blinds me. I pull my knees up, but it's too late. I'm caught in the tractor beam.

I clench my eyes shut and scream as my bones crunch together, shrinking, shrinking more, and then I disappear into the cocoon of light.

My first thought—this should totally hurt more.

My second thought—where the heck am I?

Have I become some puff of smoke spirit trapped in a trinket the size of a quarter? I suck in a shaky breath. I can hear it! If my senses are intact, then I must be made of something solid. Right?

But I'm not touching anything. Is my body gone? Wandering somewhere out there without me, a psychotic zombie mumbling incoherently?

“Oh God, oh God, oh God!” I rant.

Someone giggles.

My eyes fly open. In front of me, Mary's kneeling at my head. A big grin splits her face.

We're surrounded by a gray haze, shimmering here and there with streaks of yellow. The smoke shifts, and between the swirls two tall pillars emerge on either side of us.

“What is this place?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Dunno. But it doesn't matter. We're together!” She dives for me and wraps me in a hug. Her lavender-scented curly hair slaps me in the face while her delicate arms squeeze my ribcage.

My sister. She's here. We're together. And we're touching. I stiffen and pull back. “Are these our real bodies?”

Mary's smile fades. Fear settles behind her eyes. “I don't know. I think so.”

“Have you been here before?”

She looks around, takes in the pillars, and watches the smoke spiral around. “I remember the fog, but…not the pillars. I didn't really explore much before you called me.”

I slump. We're stuck, alone, with no idea where we are or how to get out. Zeena has won. Questions zing at me. Are we going to die here? Starve to death? Wait around for Zeena to call us out and do her bidding? How does all of this work?

“Anne?”

I shake my head, pressing the heels of my palms to my eyes. “What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?” I roar louder than a lion screaming through a megaphone.

Mary squeaks. “Um…Anne? Are you okay?”

I drop my hands and pound my thighs with both fists. “No I'm not okay. That old witch has won. We're trapped who knows where, William's gone, Evan and Shequan are gone, and we're all alone with a bunch of freaking smoke! What if we're stuck here forever, like this is some form of purgatory?” I swing my arms.

“Have you gone bonkers?” She slides away.

“Mom thinks I'm crazy. She committed me. So why not act crazy?” I rotate a finger in the air at my temple.

“We need to figure out how to get out of here.” She folds her arms across her chest.

I bend my knees and wrap my arms around my legs. “I'm sick of figuring things out. I only make it worse. You decide what to do.”

Mary kneels in front of me. “I'm not deciding anything by myself. If you've been paying attention at all, then you should know we have to work together. It's the only way our power will work.”

I purse my lips at her.

Her right eyebrow arches and her cheeks hollow. “Drop the attitude and suck it up.”

My jaw drops. “You've changed.”

She leans toward me on all fours. “That's right. You're not the only one who can be stubborn and bossy. Now give me your hand and get to your feet. And don't think you'll get away with saying no ‘cause I won't let you.”

Sobered, I reply, “Gotta say, I like the new you.”

“Shut up.”

The instant our palms make contact, a gust of wind whistles through the hazy void. Smoke closes in, encasing us in a moist, warm cushion. The fog solidifies and hauls us to our feet.

“This is weird.” I cling to her waist and she clings to mine. “Is it Z?”

“I don't think so.” Mary shakes her head. She lifts her gaze to the sky…erm, or where the sky should be. “Castor and Pollux, is that you?”

On either side of us, two pairs of arms and legs, two torsos, and two heads take form. Lefty nods. His surface shimmers and morphs to gold with the movement. His twin, Righty, nods next and turns to a rich amber.

“Oh. My. Gosh,” I whisper.

“Which one of you is Castor?” Mary asks.

Gold guy nods.

I address Righty. “And you're Pollux?”

He nods.

“Wow,” Mary whispers.

“Nice to finally meet you,” I add.

Benign smiles emanate from the Gemini twins. In unison, they point toward an archway connecting two pillars. More yellow streaks form in the gray mist, tracing a path through the arch and curving away.

Mary glances at the archway and then back to them. “You want us to go there?”

Castor and Pollux nod.

“Why?”

Their smiles fade as they dissipate into the fog.

I paw at the air where they'd stood.
Swish, swish
. “Did we really see that?”

“Yes.” She takes my hand. “Come on, let's go.”

The yellow streaks remain, showing us the way.

“We don't know where that leads,” I say.

“True. But we can't stay here, can we?”

As soon as we pass through the arch, thunder booms.

Mary snorts. “Do you think they're happy we're gone?”

Chapter Twenty-Five

I
t's hard to tell time when you're in another reality. It seems like Mary and I walk for hours. Without the yellow streaks, we have no direction. We could be going in circles anyway. Our silent partner, the ever-enduring smoke, undulates in an irregular pattern of circles, arcs, and lazy swirls. We're not met by any more pillars.

Maybe this is Zeena's way of keeping us occupied until she needs us. Maybe Castor and Pollux are playing with us. Or worse, maybe they are punishing us for calling on them in the first place.

I rub my throat and pine for a hot soak in the tub. A cool glass of water and a cheeseburger sound good too.

“Anne, I hear voices.” Mary crouches, mimicking our neighbor's cat zeroing in on an unsuspecting chickadee. She tugs at my shirt and I slip down with her.

“Sounds like arguing.” I strain to make sense of the pattern of short yelps and hollers. “Yeah, but who?” She bites her bottom lip. “Let's go another way.”