Wolf Spell 1 (32 page)

She gestured to the candles as she talked. “Esmerelda, this is for you. Hard feelings in the circle will only cause you to regret them. Try to clear your mind before entering. When you all are ready, enter the circle then we’ll begin.”

I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath and held it in, then I slowly blew it out to calm my nerves. Everyone was already in the circle when I opened my eyes. I hesitated for a second before stepping in too and grabbed Jarak’s outstretched hand.

Ailaina smiled at me. “Better?”

I nodded. I wasn’t going to talk about it because it would just get me worked up again.

My mom reached her arms toward the ceiling. “Spirit, water, air, fire and earth… We call upon you to unite us as one in a spiritual unity.” She leaned over, grabbed a bundle of sage next to the white candle, lit it, and then she walked around the inside of the circle waving the sage, letting the smoke swirl around us.

She made a complete pass before setting the bundle down on a prepared plate I hadn’t seen before. She continued to do that with each of the remaining four bundles, lighting each one with the candle it sat beside.

Once she finished, she came back to the middle of the circle. “Spirit give us peace within our circle. Water give us knowledge to help each other. Air give us power to succeed. Fire give us the passion to thrive, and earth give us life full of blessings. We ask that you bind us together.” She reached behind her and grabbed a small knife.

I tensed up.

She went to my dad first. He held his hand out, palm up then she sliced it, and pointed to a paper that looked like an old scroll. Without talking, he went over and placed his hand on the paper, letting his blood soak into it.

Ian held his hand out also, and she did the same thing. He too went to the paper and let his blood smear with my dad’s. I closed my fist, not wanting to feel the cut of the blade.

I saw a pattern happening, and I knew it got closer to my turn. Ailaina came back from the paper to stand next to Ian. Jarak let go of my hand to hold his open. He moved away to the paper and left me to stand with my mom. I glanced at her. She nodded, and I hesitantly opened my hand. She took it in hers and quickly made a slice on my palm. I winced, but bit my tongue so I wouldn’t cry out against the stinging pain.

I went over to the bloody paper and pressed my hand on it, letting my blood mix with the others. My mom placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked up. She had her hand ready to do the same.

As soon as her hand left the paper, a bright red glow emanated from it. All of the blood swirled and made a perfect circle. It was our circle of unity.

A loud boom sounded, and the house shook. I cried out. Both Jarak and Ian ran to my side and held on to me by my arms. The shaking stopped, and another boom echoed.

I looked at my mom. “What was that?”

She smiled. “It is finished.”

I shrugged out of the guys grasps and walked out of the circle. Glancing down, I noticed all of the candles had gone out. Not even a tendril of smoke wafted up from them.

November 17, 2012

“Hey Es, I think you should come see this.” I heard Jarak yell from downstairs.

So much for a peaceful nap. I sat up and pushed myself off the bed. Dragging my feet, I forced myself down the stairs and over to the couch where he sat reading the newspaper.

I slumped down beside him and propped my legs up on the coffee table. “What’s so important it couldn’t wait till after my nap?”

“This.” He held out the paper and pointed to an article that covered the front page.

I rolled my eyes. “You know I hate reading that thing. Can’t you just tell me?”

He shook his head. “No, Es, you need to see this.” He shoved the paper closer to my face.

I pushed it back and frowned. “Fine, just knock it off.” He knew I didn’t like the paper since the missing tourist thing happened.

I snatched the paper from his grasp and shook it open. “Surprise tornados. It’s so sad to see. Wait. What the heck?” I leaned in closer and gasped. “Is that what I think it is?”

“What’s all the commotion?” Ian walked out of the small spare room, under the loft.

“Have you seen this?” I held up the paper in disbelief.

“No, let me see.” He grabbed it from me before I could object. I hugged myself and rocked back and forth on the edge of the couch.

Ian read out loud. “A surprise tornado struck across the state with explosive impact. On Friday, a wide pattern of super-cells spanned as far as Tennessee and throughout the south. Recorded winds reached up to two-hundred miles per hour. This is extremely rare for this time of year… Blah blah blah…What exactly am I looking for? Other than the fact that tornados don’t usually ever happen in November, I’m not seeing anything significant.” He looked over the top of the paper at me.

Jarak leaned forward. “Look at the picture. Bottom right hand corner.”

Ian moved the paper closer to his face as he examined the picture. “Oh crap.”

“It’s him, isn’t it.” I continued to rock.

“Yes.” Ailaina closed the door as she came in the house from her walk. “I just had a vision. It’s time to find the witches.”

Jarak rested his hand on my back. “It’s okay, you’re not alone.”

“It’s not your name written in blood! Someone had to die for him to do that.” I brushed Jarak’s hand off. “Someone deliberately caused that tornado, didn’t they. Nicholas did this. He’s baiting me.” I stood up, shaking my hands out at my sides, no longer able to sit still.

“It says here that they found a pile of bodies among the debris, drained of all blood. They are saying it was from lacerations to the neck and other areas, probably caused by flying debris. Ha! Flying debris indeed.”

I swallowed hard. I knew it wasn’t a tornado that caused those deaths. It wasn’t a tornado that wrote my name on a piece of debris in blood either.

He used innocent people to get to me. “We have to go there.”

“What?” Both Ian and Jarak said at the same time.

“Es, think about this. That’s probably what he wants you to do. We can’t just go traipsing about Tennessee and run right into his trap.” Jarak tried to reason with me.

“If you don’t want to go then I will go myself.” I folded my arms in front of me.

“She’s right.” Ailaina sat down next to me.

“I’ll go,” Ian stated.

“No, if she goes, then so do I.” Jarak stood up.

“We all go.” We all spun around at the sound of my mom’s voice. She stood at the back door, my dad right beside her.

“She’s right. If Esmerelda goes, we all go. We’re here to protect her, and we can’t do that if we leave her.” My dad said.

“Alright, I guess that settles it. We leave tomorrow.” I felt a small amount of pride in knowing that I was the one making the decision.

Your Fault

– Esmerelda –

November 18, 2012

I stepped over another jagged piece of metal. This was the worst part of the damage, or so the Red Cross volunteer told me. There were still over fifty people in the area unaccounted for. I prayed silently that I didn’t step on any of them. I stopped to zip my coat up, trying to keep the cold out.

Straight ahead, a two-story house leaned heavily on its wooden braces. An unexplainable urge compelled me to go there. So far, we had been here in Shreveport, Louisiana for six hours with no sign of Nicholas—or the location of the tomb. My shoulders relaxed as I walked, maybe we were wrong and wouldn’t find Nicholas here.

Pushing open the creaky door, I braced against the dirt-covered wall with my hand. The floor was in pieces and tilted sideways near the entrance. I could hear the creaking and moaning as if the house cried out in agony. The wood groaned as I stepped on it. I closed my eyes and used my power to feel around me. There had to be something Nicholas left behind.

“Nothing's here.” Ian’s voice behind caused me to jump.

“Don’t do that!”

He walked through the door behind me, watching where he stepped just as I did.

I relaxed a little with him close. “It doesn’t feel right. Something is wrong. Can you feel it?”

He stopped and leaned against the unstable wall. “I’ve felt it since we arrived and stepped off the plane.” He fingered some of the flowered wallpaper that peeled off the sheetrock. Flakes from the ceiling fell, landing on his black hoodie.

I rested my hands on my hips. “Well, we have to find it. Has anyone found that piece of metal that has my name written on it?”

He shook his head. “No, we haven’t found anything that even resembles the picture at all. I think Nicholas set a trap, or maybe he thought we wouldn’t bring you and is back in Idaho looking for you.”

“I know.” I wanted to give up and say it was useless when the ground shook. I cried out and Ian darted, throwing himself over me.

“Run! The ceiling is falling.”

I didn’t have time to argue. I glanced back over my shoulder. I could see a portion of the house fall and close off the doorway. I ran with Ian. Spotting stairs, I took two at a time, but half way through the ground shook again. Ian’s arms went around me, and we fell to the floor. Everywhere I looked all of our possible exits closed off. The shaking didn’t stop.

Wooden beams fell around us, and loud cracks sounded as more of the house fell apart. I threw my hands over my head and prayed we’d make it out alive. Ian’s body completely covered me, and I honestly worried about him, hoping nothing would hit him.

Sirens screamed from somewhere, and I could hear the wind howl as it picked up.
Oh God,
another tornado. I grasped Ian’s shirt and clung to it.

I peeked over the crook of his arm and a piece of the wall flew past us, barely missing Ian’s head. I needed to think, needed to focus.
I am stronger than this.

I moved so I was on my knees and face-to-face with Ian, he grasped me around the waist and held me tight. I raised my hands in the air above us both as I stared into his eyes. The world that flew by became still and listened to my magic as I forced it to stop. My eyes never left his. We were so close that I could feel his hot breath on my face.

I wanted to push against him and make room, but I didn’t. Instead, I lowered my hands down to his shoulders and lingered there. My breathing was still rapid, matching his, and I could feel my heart race to keep up with his.

After world-stopping seconds passed, the trance broke, and he let me go.

Pushing myself up, I surveyed the damage done to the house. I tried to brush off the dirt from my jeans, but it was impossible as dust still fell from above, settling to the ground.

I coughed as I breathed in a lung full of dirt particles, waving my hand in front of me, trying to clear the air. Ian coughed too. Sheetrock powder and dirt covered every inch of us. I shook my head, and a pound of dust floated from my hair.

I looked around. “What do we do now?”

“We’re gonna have to dig out.”

“Can’t we call Luna or Dregan to get help?”

He ran his hand through his black disheveled hair and sighed. “Yes, but we don’t know where the others are.”

“True but it’s worth a try.”

“Luna, I need you.”
That was all I needed to say, and she was there.