Chapter 19

19

My friends stared at the woman.

“Come on,” I said, showing them the hidden path along the hill. They followed me silently.

The woman waited for us at the bottom of the stairs.

“Sorry it took me so long,” I said.

“Nonsense.” She waved me off. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She opened her arms and embraced me. “How have you been?”

“Not so great,” I said, hugging her back. In a way, being here, seeing her again, it brought so many emotions, so many memories I had tried to forget. I pulled back, cleared my throat, and turned to my friends. “Guys, this is Topaz.”

“Hello there,” Topaz said with a small smile, showing off how her bright white teeth contrasted with her smooth, light brown skin.

Wyatt sniffed the air. “You’re a witch.”

Topaz nodded. “You’re right, young man.”

Though she looked like was she was forty, Topaz was actually over eighty years old. That happened to most witches, and from the little I knew, she was a powerful one. And for some reason she never disclosed to me, she had been living quietly in the Fort Mojave Reservation for at least a decade.

Lacey pushed through our friends until she was standing just two feet from Topaz. “I know you.”

Topaz’s face paled. “Lacey,” she whispered.

I stared from one to the other. “Wait. What’s going on?”

“Topaz is from my coven,” Lacey said, her wide eyes fixed on the witch.

And the way she said Topaz wasn’t lost on me. I kind of figured that a person in hiding would change her name. I mean, even I had changed my name for a while.

“And what coven is that?” Ava asked. She knew that so far Lacey hadn’t revealed anything about her coven to me or the others. Only Levi knew to which coven she belonged.

“I thought you were dead,” Lacey said, her tone flat. Slowly her eyes went from wide to narrowed, and her surprised features changed to … was that anger?

“I—” Topaz started.

“Never mind,” Lacey snapped, cutting the older woman off. “We’re here for a reason.” She nodded to me, telling me to go on.

With what?

Did she want me to ignore her animosity? I looked from Lacey to Topaz, the wildest ideas crossing my mind. I remembered Levi telling me Lacey’s mother had died when she was young, and now Lacey said she thought Topaz was dead and she clearly wasn’t.

But that was ridiculous. Right?

Well, after finding out Ylena was Levi’s mother, I didn’t doubt anything anymore.

However, right at this moment, Lacey didn’t seem to want to dwell on it. She crossed her arms, huffed, and jerked her chin at me, as if telling me to hurry up.

Okay then.

I cleared my throat. Pretending nothing happened, I introduced the others to Topaz, telling her their names, kinds, and if there was one, their jobs. The witch had an incredible memory, and in my brief time here, I had play-tested her many times.

“The Mojave kids brought me to her and she nursed me back to life,” I told my friends.

Rage frowned. “The kids brought Ariella to you. So, the Mojave people know you’re here?”

“Yes, we have an agreement.” She folded the towel in her hands, almost wrangling it with brisk movements. “I believe I know why you’re here.”

I nodded. “Sorry I didn’t come alone. It was safer this way.”

“I know.” She glanced at all my friends, except for Lacey. “Follow me.”

She turned her back to us and walked toward the rocky wall. She stopped in front of a random spot, waved her hand, and the rock shimmered until it disappeared, giving away to a five-by-eight foot entrance.

She extended her hand, palm up, and a ball of light poofed into existence. She pushed the ball forward and it floated in the air past the entrance. She gestured for me to go in first.

Holding my breath, I stepped through.

The hidden entrance gave way to a small cave, with nothing remarkable on the inside. At first glance, a person would wonder why Topaz had hidden this place.

I knew better.

I walked to the back of the space, knelt beside the wall, grabbed a large stone that fit perfectly in the ground, and pushed it aside.

Under the stone was a dark hole, the size of a large drawer, or a medium suitcase. And inside were a few items, all wrapped with enchanted cloth. According to Topaz, if I tried taking any of the other items hidden in that hole that didn’t belong to me, I would get shocked, and if I tried again, the shock could debilitate me. If I kept going, it would kill me.

So, I never tested that theory.

I reached inside and picked up the item that was a couple of inches wide and as long as my forearm, enveloped in a navy cloth.

I shuddered, thinking of how powerful this dagger was. Much more than I first thought when I took it.

Holding it in my hand, I stood up. All of my friends were inside the cave now, along with Topaz, the yellowish light floating near the ceiling casting dark shadows under their faces.

“Is that it?” Lacey asked, her voice thin.

Slowly, I laid the dagger in one of my palms, unwrapped the cloth, and I sucked in a sharp breath. There it was. The Scarlet Hex Dagger.

I had forgotten how simple but beautiful it was with its short silver hilt, a red gem on the pommel, and the shiny blade that, when twisted to one side or the other, showed a faint red tint.

“It is,” I said, not believing it. Here it was. The dagger was in my hands again.

And this was dangerous. We needed to do what we came to do and hide it again.

I turned to Topaz. “We need your help with one more thing.”

* * *

Topaz had worked hard to secure an agreement with the Mojave tribe so she could occupy this corner of their land. And yet, I had shown up at her doorstep five years ago, beaten and bloody, within an inch of my life.

And now I was here again, asking another favor.

She wasn’t happy about it, especially because we would have to go to an open field for the next step. But she didn’t complain. Not out loud, at least.

She marched ahead of us, taking the lead and guiding us farther into the Mojave land, away from their settlements—and her place—where we could do the spell without attracting unwanted attention.

We walked under the harsh sun for over thirty minutes, until we were standing in a large clearing among tall Joshua trees.

Zad and the demon hunters spread out through the clearing, as if patrolling the area to keep our enemies out.

Hopefully, no one knew where we were and no enemy would show up.

Well, except for Levi.

And maybe Ylena.

Abbie pulled out chalk from her dress’s pocket. “I’ll draw the circle.”

“Do you have more chalk?” Lacey asked.

Abbie handed her a second piece of chalk and the two of them set out to draw a large witch’s circle in the center of the clearing. Aspen stood back, waiting for the circle to be ready. And Farrah knew me too well. She took Wyatt’s hand and went to help the others.

As for me … I couldn’t help any longer.

I turned to Topaz and whispered, “You’re from Lacey’s coven? And she thought you were dead? Care to explain?”

Topaz regarded me with her kind brown eyes. “What do you know about my life?”

She hadn’t revealed much in the couple of weeks I had stayed with her. “Almost nothing.”

“Exactly. Why do you think it’ll change now?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Fine. Don’t answer. Lacey will tell me.”

“I don’t think she will.”

I gaped at her. “Is it that bad?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What does that even mean?” I frowned. “Are you her mother?”

Topaz stared at me, a glint I couldn’t place in her eyes. “No.”

That word echoed in my ears, hard and absolute. All right. I believed that, but then … “What are you? To her, I mean?”

The witch shook her head. “Drop it, Ariella.”

“You know I won’t?—”

“It’s done,” Abbie announced, unaware she was disrupting my interrogation.

Ignoring me, Topaz looked at the warlock. “Are you ready?”

Aspen stepped forward, to the edge of the circle. “I’m ready.”

“Witches and warlock, position.” Topaz approached the circle. Lacey, Abbie, and Aspen spread out, standing on equidistant four points around the circle.

The others stayed back.

I handed the dagger to Topaz. We had agreed she was probably the most powerful of us, but Lacey, Abbie, and Aspen would send their magic to enhance Topaz’s, just in case.

I would stay on the sidelines, watching and praying it worked.

Topaz picked up the dagger and nodded at Aspen.

He put one step inside the circle, closed his eyes, and raised his hands. I felt the tug of his magic reaching inside of me. To open the portal where Levi was without knowing, Aspen would use the bond. He said that theoretically, the bond connected us all the time, even if sometimes it felt muted.

A purple ball appeared over Aspen’s hand, and it grew and grew. “Almost there,” he said, and I had an idea that he was holding the bond’s line and searching.

The ball flattened and became a large portal.

With an outstretched hand, Aspen tugged hard on an invisible line.

Levi burst from the portal, roaring like a mad animal. His red eyes zeroed in on Aspen. He swiped his big claws, but thankfully, Aspen stepped back and out of the circle, missing the strike by an inch.

Just as the portal was closing, someone else flew through it.

Ylena.

She went directly for Levi, who turned to continue their battle.

But we knew that was a possibility and we were ready.

Lacey and Abbie threw their magic out, tying Ylena and pulling her back, until she stood in a small witch circle, inside the bigger one.

Still blinded by her rage, Ylena flapped her dark wings and made for Levi but she hit the circle’s invisible wall and fell back, her wings folding awkwardly underneath her.

Levi had also charged Ylena and met the wall’s barrier. Fangs bared, he turned around, finally stopping to see what was going on. He snarled at Abbie, glanced over at Lacey as if he didn’t know her, snapped his teeth at Aspen, and froze when he saw the dagger in Topaz’s hands.

“Levi,” I said.

He shifted his gaze to me. “You again.”

“Yes, me.” I lifted my chin. “I waited for you, you know? I thought you would come back, like you did before. But hours passed and nothing.” He stared at me, anger and frustration flashing in his eyes. “Did you ignore the bond? Or did you feel it?” I held a finger up. “Don’t answer that.” I glanced at Ylena. “I see you quickly found her.”

“It wasn’t that quick,” he said, his voice still like a monster’s.

“And yet, you found her.”

Ylena smiled at me, looking more like a depraved demon than an archangel. “You say you two are connected. He and I are connected too.”

I frowned. “Oh, I know. But do you? Do you know why you’re connected? How?”

The two of them seemed lost with my question.

“Got it!” Topaz yelled.

I took a step back as she pointed the dagger at Levi. A line of red light stretched from the tip of the blade to Levi’s chest, and before he could register what was happening, the line pushed inside of him, and he fell to his knees, roaring.

“The dagger!” Ylena screamed and rammed into the invisible wall again.

Aspen lifted his hand and the wall around the smaller circle became a light gray, like frosted glass. The angel punched the wall and screamed, but the sound was muffled.

And we could focus.

Topaz gritted her teeth. “Turn this demon back to what he was,” she said, ordering the dagger. “Change him back to the man he was.”

A spark of magic traveled through the red line, and Levi yelled when it entered him.

His arms were as spread out as his big wings, with his neck stretched, his head tilted up.

“Don’t resist it,” I told him, but I wasn’t sure he was listening.

Lacey, Abbie, and Aspen lifted their arms to their sides, and their magic traveled like a wave around them all, connecting the four of them, and feeding into Topaz.

“Turn this demon back to what he was!” Topaz yelled. The spark traveled from the blade to Levi’s chest again, and he half yelled, half snarled.

My heart tugged. He was in pain, and I was responsible for this.

But it had to be done. That was the only way he would be himself again.

With a grunt, Topaz sank to her knees.

I knelt beside her, the others moved but Lacey shouted, “No one move! Send more of your magic to Topaz. To the blade!”

The line connected them became brighter, thicker, and the magic flowed into Topaz, through the blade, and into Levi.

He gritted his teeth.

“He’s resisting it,” Topaz said, her words barely a whisper. “I can’t hold this up for long.”

“You have to. It is the only way.”

She shook her head. “He’s fighting me .”

“What?”

Her brown eyes fixed into mine. “Trust me.” Topaz pushed the dagger into my hands. I tried pulling away, but she held on to me. “Trust me,” she whispered again.

And so I did.

She transferred the dagger to me, and without breaking contact, moved her hands to lay on top of mine. A jolt rushed through me as the magic now passed from Topaz, to me, to the dagger, into Levi.

“Now, it’s your turn,” she said. “Say your intentions. Mix them with the magic.”

I looked at Levi. “Come back to me,” I said, low, timid.

No, this wouldn’t do. Hoisting Topaz with me, I stood, tall and proud, and opened up myself, my magic, my feelings. I let them mingle with the others’ magic, I let it envelop everything, sugarcoating the intent with my need to have him back.

I inhaled deeply and let it all out. “Come back to me, Levi. This is not who you are. You pretend to be this big, bad demon, like the one you are now, but that’s not really you.” My chest tightened. “You’re loyal, you’re caring, and you’re honest.” Tears burned the back of my eyes. “You’re someone I had no intention of meeting, let alone get attached to, but now I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” A lump formed in my throat. “And I know you feel the same, so come back to me!”

I pushed the magic with all my might. The line was thicker than my arm and it tremble with a spark that exploded in Levi’s chest.

Levi fell back, the line disappeared, and the flow of magic ceased.

I stared at him, at the dagger, at Topaz. “What happened? Is it done?”

Her wide eyes were as clueless as mine.

I passed the dagger back to her and rushed to Levi. I knelt beside him two seconds before Lacey did.

A shudder coursed through Levi’s body and it changed.

Gone was his gray skin, the dark veins. His horns and wings retreated, his hair shortened, and the torn pants he had on seemed a little loose now.

He shuddered again, and then exhaled slowly as he opened his eyes.

And stared right at me.

“I’m here, sweetheart.”