Chapter 14

Dreya

"That witch is going to bring herself back," I said incredulously. "It"s just our luck that damn magical storm unearthed the well. She gathered powers fast." It had only been a few months.

Kota shook her head as she walked around the room. "I don't think she started gathering power after the storm. That bitch has been doing little things over the centuries and stock piling the power."

Phi nodded as her gaze took everything in. "Kota's right. There's too much of her power in this house. It feels like it's part of the boards surrounding us."

Lia placed her hands on her hips and looked at me. "We have to assume she's been at this awhile. She's had time to experiment, which means she's dangerous."

"We should check the house with a fine-tooth comb," Dea suggested. "There might be something else in here."

"We can't walk away without looking with our mundie senses," I agreed. We'd already used magic, but that didn't mean there was nothing to find. It wouldn't be difficult to hide stuff given the intensity of magic in the place.

The old house creaked and groaned around us as we ventured through its recesses. Our steps were tentative yet purposeful. Dust danced in the air, illuminated by slivers of moonlight that filtered through cracked windows. We navigated through rooms cluttered with the remnants of everyday life. Picking up a shoe, I felt for any magic attached to the thing. "It looks like someone lives here. I hope they don't come home while we are searching the place," I observed.

"Someone definitely lives here. We could always set up a warning spell that would alert us if someone comes up the walkway," Lia replied.

Dani cocked her head to the side. "It could have been the betrayer. Think about it. If she's been infusing this old place with her power, it could have seeped into the inhabitants as well. That would have made it easier for her to put a soul in her body and make her astral project to Willowberry."

Phi spun around and gave Dani a look. "That actually makes a lot of sense and is highly disturbing. This place is a treasure trove of forgotten magic. Given all of that, I wonder what these objects are to Agnes. Could one be her anchor to this world?" Her voice held a note of concern, echoed by the gravity of our predicament.

Kota cried out from an adjoining room. "I found a hidden chamber sestras!"

We raced over and stopped behind Kota as she stood in front of an opening where it had previously looked like a solid wall. "Surely something in there is fueling Agnes," Dre said.

Lia crossed the threshold and picked up an ornate amulet from a dusty shelf. "This artifact feels charged." A shudder worked its way through her making my stomach knot. "There's something dark about them. Do you think removing them will disrupt her plans? We can't destroy everything in here safely."

Kota frowned. "Maybe our dragon fire can do the trick without us having to check before using our magic on them."

I lifted a shoulder. "It's something to consider. I just wish there was a way to know more about this place. Who owns it, and do these belong to them? We can't take shit because we think it's tied to Agnes. That'd be theft."

Dea"s expression went distant, and she spun around slowly. "The spirits murmur of dark intentions tied to these objects. That isn't the case for the entire house. Agnes"s influence definitely lingers like a stain on here," she explained. After sharing that, she shook her head and refocused on us.

Kota traced a sigil on the front of a shelf with her finger. "Agnes"s ability to anchor herself to this world is unnatural. It's a perversion of the magical balance. Surely, we should be able to feel that," she said as she yanked her finger back. "Those have bite."

Dani reached out then clenched her hands into a fist and shook her head. I clasped her on the back. "You don't have to do this. We can take this with us if we have to," I told her.

Dani shot me a wry look. "I know. I'm not sure if I will, but if these artifacts are conduits or channels for Agnes"s malevolent ambitions, then we need to know. I might even be able to determine if removing them will disrupt her hold on this plane."

I let my gaze scan the array of arcane objects. There was little doubt that the tomes, crystals, and relics helped Agnes in some way. As I looked around, something hit me. "You might be right about the betrayer having lived here. Even if she hadn't, whoever does is tied to Agnes. Why else would they carefully arrange this shit? The shelves aren't even dusty. That means they take care of them."

Dani laid a hand on the shelf closest to her before anyone could stop her. Lia surged to her side, offering support in case the memories took over completely. The five of us held out breath while Dani's eyes moved beneath her closed lids. It seemed like it took forever before they popped open and she looked at me.

"You okay?" Lia asked her.

Dani nodded and stood on her own. "This is where Agnes wove her dark spells and bound herself to this world. We should have known she had another home after learning she was kicked out of the family. She did something to tie her magic here as well. It's why she can use it still. Removing these objects is a gamble, but I think it's one we must take," she declared, her tone resolute yet tinged with caution.

Lia chewed on her lower lip. "Maybe we should do another reveal spell before we try taking anything," she suggested.

Phi nodded and clasped Dea"s hand as she said, "That's a good idea. If Agnes did her spell here, we should focus on revealing that too. It might give us a way to unravel her hold on this world."

My brow furrowed as I considered her suggestion. My mind worked as if it was running a marathon and intent on coming in first. Everything I considered then boiled down to one thing. "If we can send them packing, will we be able to get rid of the curse on the well? Does it lessen if she is gone?"

Kota lifted a shoulder. "That's a question for Kaitlyn later. Let's do this."

Joining hands, we took a moment to gather our intent, and then we cast the spell. It didn't take long before our surroundings started changing. The room crackled with arcane energy and while we watched, sigils began appearing on the walls. An open book appeared out of nowhere. Phi picked it up and showed us the pages that depicted ancient rituals. Shadows danced around the room and wisps of smoke followed suit. When the spell settled, we were staring at a worn wooden table that was cluttered with an ancient, hand-drawn map, crystals, and scrolls.

Lia"s eyes were ablaze with a mix of determination as she traced the lines. "I'd bet money these are the ley lines and Agnes was using them in her spells. That's why she drew them in rust brown."

One of my eyebrows lifted to my hairline. "I don't think that's ink."

Kota snorted. "Of course, it's not. Using blood goes along with the cliche. I wish Agnes had added directions to this damn map. Something like turn right at Malevolence Street, and you"ve reached your destination," she quipped, a wry smile playing on her lips.

I leaned back against the wall and eyed the map with a tactical gaze. "If Lia is right, Agnes found a nexus of power. Just what every villain dreams of for their grand finale. Do they all have a subscription to the Big Book of Clichés?" It surprised me how many of them followed similar patterns of behavior.

Phi chuckled as she looked over my shoulder. "They"ve got a flair for the dramatic. I"ll give them that. You're right. These ley lines converge like fangirls at a pop concert," she said.

"We brought these items forward through time somehow and it has the spirits here up in arms." Dea cocked her head and looked off into the distance as if she was listening to something we couldn't see. Duh, that's precisely what she was doing. "One said Agnes used this like a mystical junction box."

Kota hands rested on the table. "I see she used the whole magical buffet. Earth, air, fire, water. It's all-you-can-absorb mystical energy," she snickered. "Our dragon fire might be able to destroy this without blowback. It's straightforward witch power."

Dani was fiddling with an ancient spoon when she looked up with a mischievous grin. "We should take these things outside and see what we can do about destroying them. I like Kota's idea. We don't have the time to handle them one at a time."

I sighed, grabbed a few items from the shelves, and moved them to the top of the table. "Put them on here, and we will carry this outside."

Dea grabbed Kota's hand. "We will cast a loop spell to keep our actions hidden from the neighbors."

The moon hung low in the inky sky, its soft glow filtering through the interwoven branches of the trees in the backyard by the time Lia and I carried the burden through the backdoor. Shafts of silvery light painted intricate patterns on the grass. Large rocks stood like sentinels around the yard. The sounds of the city were absent, thanks to Dea and Kota's spell. We were effectively hidden from the world.

The six of us were silhouettes against the luminescent backdrop of the night. We stood in a loose circle as we tuned into each other's magic. We would need to do this together.

"There's something out here," I said as I tried to pinpoint what I was feeling.

Lia spun around slowly and then looked at me. "I feel it too," she admitted.

The unsettling sensation rippled through the six of us like a shared tremor. Dea nodded in agreement, her ethereal connection amplifying our awareness. "What is it?"

"That's the million-dollar question," Kota replied.

Attempting to pinpoint the source of the disturbance would be futile. I'd tried before saying something. Whatever it was, it was not readily sensed so I refocused our attention on the task at hand. "Let"s remain vigilant, but we must stay focused on our mission. Destroying these objects is our priority to sever Agnes"s connection," I asserted, my voice cutting through the tension.

Stepping forward with resolve, Kota selected a sinister-looking candlestick from the assortment of artifacts. Its design bore arcane symbols that seemed to writhe on the metal. "I'm going to burn this to ash," she said and then placed it on one of the large rocks. Kota channeled her draconic heritage. Flames erupted from her mouth in a thin stream and engulfed the candlestick in a torrent of dragon fire.

As the flames consumed the malevolent artifact, the air crackled with dark energy. Shadows danced and contorted around the fiery display while also spitting sparks out of the center. With each object reduced to smoldering ash, a sense of fleeting triumph washed over us.

I whistled and picked up a second item. "We are going to have to do this one at a time. If we try to do it all, we could end up on our asses."

My sisters nodded in agreement, and we continued our task methodically. Dani employed her psychometric touch to discern the essence within each item. It allowed us to determine if there was anything major waiting inside. We hesitated when she couldn't get a read on an hourglass so we erected wards around us before Kota went to work on it.

It seemed to take forever, but we finally reached the last artifact. It was a twisted mirror that seemed to reflect secrets long forgotten. Kota unleashed her dragon fire once more, incinerating the mirror with focused intensity. As the mirror shattered, a surge of power rippled through the yard, unsettling but ultimately liberating.

In the aftermath, a palpable sense of relief settled over us. The backyard, once a battleground of arcane remnants, now bore witness to our hard-won victory. With Agnes"s tenuous grip on the living world weakened, we exchanged looks of quiet satisfaction. The weight of our success lifted from our shoulders.

But just as we began to lower our guard, a sudden disturbance seized the air. Time seemed to warp and twist, the fabric of reality trembling as if a rift had opened. One of the destroyed objects - a fragment of an ancient hourglass - emitted a pulsating aura, creating a localized temporal disturbance. We watched in awe and trepidation as the air shimmered with strange energies.

"I told you I didn't know what that one was about," Dani said. "What the hell is that?"

"That is a temporal tangle," Adele said into our minds. "It is a gateway to other times. And very dangerous."

With her words, the ethereal glow of the moon became a living canvas where the very essence of time seemed to weave and unravel. Darkly vibrant energy surrounded us. It was radiant with otherworldly luminescence. As I looked around, I noticed that sigils adorned the ancient trees that surrounded the area. And most shocking of all, the air itself shimmered with temporal energy. It created a surreal dance of light and shadow, making me wonder how this was even possible.

My eyes narrowed with a mix of fear and skepticism. "Is Agnes actually alive, do you think? Could she have ended up in the time stream somehow?" It was the first thought that popped into my head. And would explain how she was able to put a spirit into a body.

Phi's mouth parted, and shock filled her gaze. "She might be. The storm could have opened the way for her to return to Earth," she suggested.

Lia was fixed on the swirling vortex of distorted time nearby as she muttered, "I always wanted a time-turner, but this is a bit more than I bargained for. It"s like time is throwing a masquerade ball, and we"re the unwitting guests in mismatched costumes." Her words carried a whimsical touch. It was her coping mechanism in the face of this temporal peculiarity. Seemed as if we were all out of sorts here.

Phi shook her head to clear it and dropped her gaze. "I'm trying to recall what I read about this."

"Temporal disturbances are like ripples in a magical pond. You throw a pebble, and suddenly you"ve got echoes of yesterday, today, and the day after tomorrow. You're safe from the full effects for now. You haven't been pulled into it, so stay clear," Adele added.

Dea closed her eyes briefly. "The spirits are frightened. They"re whispering about fragments of the past and glimpses of futures being tangled like vines," she murmured.

Kota pointed to a flower in the middle of the disturbance. Half of it was a new bud, while the other was further in the growth cycle. "This flora must have attended the "Chronicles of Botanical Time Travelers" seminar. It looks like it bloomed backward. Like the floral version of reverse engineering," she quipped.

Dani bent down to examine a peculiar distortion in the air. "If time is a river, we"re kayaking without a map. Here"s to hoping we don"t end up in the temporal rapids or stuck in a time loop. Though, a loop-de-loop might be fun," she joked to mask the fear floating through her.

What in the hell did this mean for us and ending the curse? Could we stop Agnes from using others to return and continue her bid for world domination? I refused to consider we might fail on this one.