Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

G reer latched onto her hand, squeezing it hard. "Are you sure you're ready? Really sure, Robbie? I don't want you to do this if you feel at all fearful."

Robbie looked at his handsome face and decided to be honest. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course I'm afraid. I'm going to meet my people. It's like meeting the parents of the guy you're dating."

Nina snarfed. "You really are a badass, Glinda. I don't give a shit what anyone says."

Greer pulled her close. "I'm being serious. I don't know if I can get inside with you once you've unlocked the village with your magic. It might only let you in."

Hervé skittered across the basement floor. "Hervé will help. I solemnly swear. Do not be afraid. Hervé saves ze day!"

She smiled at him before she looked Greer directly in the eye, gripping his hands. "I'm okay. We've been just outside the gates twenty times now. All of us. We know I can get there. Now all I have to do is get us in there. That's it."

She'd finally learned the spell well enough that it was almost fool-proof. The first time Robbie'd managed to get she and Greer to the enormous road leading to the iron gates of his village, they'd cheered and hugged each other. The feeling had been euphoric, joyous, the connection between Robbie and the vision in front of her deep and abiding, like nothing she'd ever experienced.

As they stood on the road that first time, she'd been in awe. Wherever this was, it was beautiful. The cobblestone pathway, lined with mums and geraniums in a riot of colors, wound its way toward iron gates.

The skies were cloudless and blue, the tall oak trees beautiful with their change for the season. Orange-brown and yellow leaves fell to the ground in a lazy drift, riding the air. The breeze was perfect as it lifted her hair. Not too cold, not too warm—perfection. Birds soared above, gliding, swerving, their wings spread wide.

A wishing well sat nearby and a waterwheel paddled sparkling water, the tinkling sound soothing to her ears.

She would never forget first seeing the beauty of Moonfall Cove, knowing she could be a part of this—that she could belong to this beautiful place. It made her heart race with excitement.

"It's beautiful," she'd breathed, gripping Greer's arm.

"It is, isn't it?" he'd replied, clear pride in his tone, but she heard a bit of sadness, too.

"You miss it, don't you?"

His green eyes looked far away. "I do. I didn't know how much I missed it until now."

"Did you mother live here?" she's asked softly.

"She did, and Gwinnifer did, too, until they booted her out, which was a mistake, considering she was let loose on unsuspecting humans."

Unfortunately, first trip, she hadn't been able to hold the spell long enough for more than a glance. But seeing that place, a place she so wanted to explore, she'd gone back to the murder basement and worked that much harder to keep the spell in place.

And she had. Each time she connected with the spell, she was able to stay longer, until they realized the spell didn't end until she ended it.

"So if we get there and we can't get in, we let the kid go in alone? I'm not fucking keen on that, Cover Model. She's goin' to a place where, for days, no one's heard jack shit from the people who live there, with nothing more than a fresh-mouthed talking broom? Not a fan, dude. Not a fan."

"Hey!" Hervé squealed.

Nina grabbed him by his handle, twisting her fingers around it. "Can it, Lover. The adults are talking."

"But how else will we know what's going on in there if I don't go in, Nina? I know you're worried about me, but I have a ton of magic under my belt. I get stronger every day."

Marty pulled her into a warm, vanilla- and pear-scented hug. "But are you strong enough ? What if you get in and you can't get out, and we can't get to you?"

"What kind of fucking place guards itself with magic like fucking Fort Knox?" Nina spat.

"A place where we're free to be who we are without constraint," Greer answered. "A place free from humans. Some of us live there full time, and some have a place both in the human world and at Moonfall, but we protect the village and its magic at all costs."

Wanda made a face at Nina. "Yeah. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to flash your fangs and fly wherever you wanted without people calling the damn CIA on you? It makes complete sense, Nina. We'd do it, too, if we could."

Blowing out a breath, Robbie brushed her hands together. "Okay, let's stop nattering on about who can come and go, and just go. If Moonfall needs help, we have to find out. So let's get there and find out."

"Aye-Aye, Captain," Nina said.

Silently, they all gathered around in a circle, their hands on Robbie's shoulders, Hervé under her arm. They'd practiced this several times with the whole gang in tow.

"Wait!" she heard Tottington call. "Wait for me!"

Her eyes popped open as Tottington pushed his way in beside Nina, hooking his arm through hers. "T, you can't go. You're completely unprotected."

But his steely gaze met hers, his lips a thin line. "Where you go, I go. As it was, it always shall be."

Her heart thumped in her chest at the affection she felt for her longtime friend. Sometimes the only friend she'd had growing up. "Oh, T…" she whispered.

"We'll look out for him. I'll fucking look out for him, kiddo. Don't worry."

Without another word, except the word SAP running through her head, she focused on the new connection she felt to Moonfall.

With a dry mouth, she licked her lips and repeated the words she'd said what felt like thousands of times. "Sweet home calls to me. Across the divide, I long to see. Carry us there, bridge the gap, with wings of a bird on my snap!"

The next words she heard were from Nina, "Holy fucking shit."

Guess she'd stuck the landing, huh?"

Greer held her hand as they approached the twenty-foot iron gate guarding Moonfall Cove. His home. Once his entire world.

After his mother was killed and Gwinnifer sentenced to death, he'd left and never looked back. He had no magic to allow him entry anyway, even though Soledad had assured him she'd create a spell that would allow him access. The idea of being near his mother's home hurt too much.

Since adulthood, he'd always lived outside of Moonfall anyway. As much as he loved his coven, they couldn't offer him the kind of mental stimulation his interest in technology craved, but he'd visited often.

Robbie threaded her fingers through the iron slats and looked to him. "Are you okay, Greer?"

His cheeks puffed outward as he peered inside. "Yes."

Nina slapped him on the back. "You got this, Cover Model."

Marty, Wanda, Darnell and Tottington gathered around him in a protective circle. "S'all good, man. Either way. We're here for ya."

Yeah. Either way.

He turned to face them, the words he wanted to say choking him up. "I just want to thank you all. If it hadn't been for your support, I don't know if I could have done this alone. I hope we'll all stay in touch. So whatever happens, thank you. All of you—even Nina," he said with a playful wink at her.

Everyone laughed, hugging him, enveloping him in the kind of acceptance he hadn't felt for a very long time.

Robbie looked up at him, her soft eyes full of concern as she cupped his cheek. "You sure you're ready?"

He looked to Robbie and smiled. "Yep. All you have to do is put your hand on the latch and you're in."

Reaching forward with her beautiful eyes closed, her small hand covered the latch and, like music to his ears, it popped open.

Everyone cheered. "Way to go, honey!" Marty called, planting a kiss on Robbie's cheek.

Her glance at him was tentative, but he encouraged her as the gate swung open. "Take a step inside."

"Hold my hand," she whispered, pulling him to her as she took the first step inside the gate.

His heart throbbed in his chest when his work boots landed on the sacred ground he'd missed so much and foolishly tossed away.

They looked at each other before they quietly smiled.

Robbie pulled him deeper inside, past the enormous arborvitaes and the round gardens lined in stone. Just as they reached the tip of in the inner workings of Moonfall, she whispered, "Welcome home."

The comfort he felt made him close his eyes and inhale deeply. The smell of oils and the fresh herbs he'd been raised with, grown for potions, teas, and poultices, rife in the air. It was the scent of home. The scent of love, warmth—of his mother.

Now he tugged Robbie, pulling her deeper into the town as the others followed behind, incredulous at the idea they were all able to get inside.

But in seconds, he understood why.

As the village came into full view, his heart hammered in his chest and his legs went soft.

"Jesus Christ," he whispered, his eyes scanning the village, his chest so tight he thought it would explode.

No one spoke, you almost couldn't hear anyone breathe , until finally Nina said, "What the ever-lovin' fuck went on here?"

His town—all the tiny little cottages, the mercantile, the stores—were leveled. As if someone had come in with a plow and run them down. Trees were uprooted, the fountain in the center of the village smashed to smithereens, glass from store windows and the cottages was strewn across the road, glinting in the sun.

Robbie gripped his hand harder, her fear evident on her face. "Maybe we should go?"

But he shook his head, his expression pained. "No… I have to see…I have to…"

He didn't know what he had to do, but he did know something evil had swept through Moonfall. He couldn't smell it the way he'd once been able to, but dark magic had been here.

As he walked down the cobblestone road, stepping over crushed planters and furniture, as he passed the obliterated café a sweet, elderly witch named Julia had opened, he slowly began to run.

Toward his mother's.

He heard everyone take off behind him, the stomps of their feet in his ears as he rounded the corner of Main Street and headed toward Tarragon Lane.

Skidding to a halt, he choked out a cough to keep from screaming.

It was gone. Her house, the house he'd grown up in, was gone . There was nothing left but rubble. Nothing but the white shingles that had once covered his home, nothing but remnants of the roof and her crushed flower pots remained.

"No," he murmured, picking his way through the mess, feeling as though he'd been stabbed through the heart.

Robbie came to stand beside him, pulling his hand into hers. "Greer, what's happening? Talk to us. Talk to me."

"Everyone's gone," he muttered, unable to form a coherent thought. His mind whirled, fractured in pieces.

"But where?" Wanda asked, pulling her light gray sweater around her waist as she placed a consoling hand on Greer's shoulder. "Where have they gone?"

He saw Robbie cock her head and hold up a finger before she wrinkled her nose. "Do you smell that?"

Greer looked around. He didn't smell a thing, unless devastation had a scent. "What do you smell?"

"Me, Greer. She smells me, darling boy," a deep, throaty voice said.

He whipped around, but he didn't need to see who it was. He knew who it was.

His feet crunched in the debris as he widened his stance. Narrowing his eyes, he addressed the newcomer with a wooden tone. "It's you."

"It is. Gwinnifer, if you'd like, but Grandmama if you must."

Oh. Shit.