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Maya pulled out her phone as it vibrated in her pocket, frowning at the unknown number. She moved away from the others as Sam went to retrieve the discarded necklace, stepping into his own designated area. The barrier sprang up around him the moment he crossed the boundary.
“Who is this?” she asked, her voice low as she walked further away, hand cupped over her ear.
“Maya!” Clarissa called after her. “No telephone calls! You need to concentrate on what the others are doing!”
Maya barely registered the scolding as the voice on the other end of the line came through. “Repeat after me: Air, make a barrier and take no sound to eager ears.”
Recognizing Austen’s voice, Maya’s eyes widened. “Air, make a barrier and take no sound to eager ears.” She felt a shift in the wind around her, the magic forming an invisible shield. She smiled to herself, turning so she could keep an eye on Clarissa without being overheard. “How did you get this number?”
“Witch,” Austen reminded her simply.
She chuckled softly. “I didn’t realize that made you an instant telephone directory.”
“Yes, well,” he cleared his throat. “I need you to do something for me.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you need?”
“I need you to DHL me something as soon as possible, hopefully before the end of the week,” he declared.
She blinked in surprise. “Uh, okay?”
“The thing is, I need you to retrieve it for me from the person who has it. He’s in Thomasville.”
Maya balked at that. “Thomasville.”
“Yes.” Austen’s voice was firm. “I know it isn’t the safest place, but I really need this...thing...that he’s holding for me. It’s urgent. If it wasn’t for the time frame, I’d get it myself, but I can’t risk leaving here. Not with things as critical as they are.”
Worry crept into her voice. “Is everything okay?”
“All I can say is that something I’ve been working towards my whole life is about to be accomplished. If everything goes according to plan, I will be there soon, and we can have the conversation we need to have face to face.”
It was cryptic, but she sensed the urgency. “What is it, where is it, and how do I prove to this guy that I’m from you? Because I doubt he’ll just hand it over if I say I’m there on your orders.”
“It’s a package,” he replied vaguely. “Max Ford is holding it for me. He’s the owner of Crouch End.”
“Crouch End, like the Stephen King short story?” she quipped, knowing it wasn’t but unable to help herself.
“Crouch End, the nightclub,” he clarified.
“Okay, a good time to try my newest fake ID,” she muttered, trying to sound confident.
An explosion had Maya turning around, eyes wide as Sam stumbled out of the barrier, which was now a smoking, burnt circle on the ground.
Clarissa coughed, waving her hand in front of her. “Very creative.”
Sam grinned, despite his weariness. “I get these explosions of genius.” He yanked the necklace off and tossed it to Dawson, who caught it, his hand veins pulsing green. “Don’t feel bad if you can’t live up to that. We all know I’m a tough act to follow.”
Rolling his eyes, Dawson watched Clarissa for directions to his area, slipping on the necklace and wincing as the barrier enclosed him.
Maya turned her back to Clarissa, refocusing on her phone. “So what do I do to get this Max Ford to give me the package?”
There was a hesitation.
“Austen?” Maya felt dread rising.
“It’s not so much what you do...as what you give.”
Her stomach churned. “As in?”
“Blood,” Austen responded. “You need to retrieve the package from its hidden place, and to do so, you need to give a little blood. Only someone with my blood can get it.”
Maya’s eyes widened. “Are you saying it’s in some sort of magical safe that can only be opened by someone from your family?”
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“In a nutshell, yes,” Austen confirmed. “There’s a bit more to it than just bloodletting, but yes.”
“Okay,” she nodded, swallowing hard. “I’m actually out with the Coven and Clarissa right now, so why don’t I call you once I sneak back home, and you can give me more specifics?”
There was a pause, then a sigh. “Maya, I would prefer it if you didn’t get so close to the Harvest Grove Coven or Clarissa Jackson...especially Clarissa Jackson.”
Maya worried her bottom lip, unsure how to respond without being disrespectful. “I’ve been friends with Dawson and Jason my whole life. They’re part of the coven, and I’m not going to stop being friends with them. The others aren’t half bad either.” She cleared her throat, feeling his dissatisfaction. “But I’ll never be close to or trust Clarissa Jackson, so I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“She’s going to expect you to bind the coven,” Austen reminded.
“And if it wasn’t for the fact that I’ll only be able to use magic with the others, I would do it,” she lied, feeling a surge of rebellion. The silence on the other end was heavy with his strong disapproval. “You lied to me. You said that if I did magic with the others, they’d grow addicted to my magic. They haven’t.”
“You’ve done group magic?” he whispered, a hint of shock in his voice.
“We were nearly killed the other night,” she retorted, annoyed at his tone, which was almost fatherly. “We were kidnapped and attacked. There was no other choice!”
“Witch-Hunters?” he began.
“No, Clarissa said they weren’t Witch-Hunters. Someone else is in the game and is testing our unbound coven for some reason.” Her eyes widened at the complete silence from his end. “You know who it was, don’t you?”
“I have an idea,” he admitted, his voice a low hiss. “But it’s something I need to speak to you about face to face. There’s less time than I thought. Maya, I need that package if I’m going to keep you and the others safe.”
She gulped, sensing his genuine worry and desire to protect her. “I’ll get it for you.”
“Thank you,” he replied, relief evident in his tone.
“Maya, it’s your turn,” Clarissa’s voice cut into her conversation. “Who are you talking to?”
Maya turned toward the witch, who was eyeing her curiously. “It’s my father.” She gulped, saying the first thing that came to mind. “He realized I was out of the house, it’s late at night, and he freaked out a little. I’m telling him that I’m fine and with you.”
“Oh,” Clarissa nodded, understanding dawning. “Do you need me to speak to him to confirm your whereabouts?”
“No. He heard your voice,” Maya shook her head. “I’ll be there in a second.”
“Okay,” Clarissa nodded again, probably being gracious because she thought Gabe was listening.
Turning her back on Clarissa, Maya brought the phone to her ear. “I’ll call you back in a couple of hours.” She hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket, turning just in time for Angelo to place the necklace in her hands. She’d missed Dawson’s test and possibly Jason’s as well. The moment her hands closed over the meteorite, it felt like her blood was boiling, her veins throbbing and turning green.
“Since you were not paying attention,” Clarissa raised an eyebrow, hugging herself. “Sam managed to create a similar electric force as the barrier, and when the two energies collided, they canceled each other quite...explosively.”
Sam grinned proudly, smoking once more.
“Dawson creatively bombarded the earth around the barrier, destabilizing the crystals I used to anchor it. While it didn’t fall, it was weak enough for him to escape,” Clarissa nodded proudly. “Likewise, Angelo used the earth to his advantage, pulling out a large boulder from under the ground and using it to break through. As stone isn’t a conductor, it went through the electricity, and he escaped with minimal injury.”
The cut on Angelo’s cheek proved her words.
“And Jason,” Clarissa’s gaze turned to the handsome young man. “He coated the barrier with ice and then shattered it.”
Maya’s eyes widened as she turned towards Jason. “Wow.”
He blushed, clearly uncomfortable with the praise. “It wasn’t anything.”
Maya doubted that, already feeling horribly weak as she slipped the necklace on and walked to where Clarissa directed her. As the barrier came up around her, Maya felt her mind blank. She had no idea how to break out of this thing while feeling so terribly drained and without using the same techniques the others had already used. Panic started to set in, but she fought it, trying to ignore Clarissa’s shrewd gaze. She looked around, searching for a weakness in the barrier, but everything seemed strong and in place.
Cursing softly, Maya licked her lips before following Harper’s lead and kicking off her shoes. Clarissa had praised the girl for this move earlier, so there was obviously something to it. She cleared her throat and held her hands out to her sides, willing lightning once more. Knowing it had worked the last time, she tried to use her magic, but the meteorite around her neck began to glow brighter, making her veins feel like they were transporting needles to her heart instead of blood. She faltered with a cry, clutching at her heart.
Dawson and Jason stepped forward, much as they had with Harper before.
Clarissa’s eyes narrowed, watching intently.
Maya tried to issue her magic forth, but the stone around her neck glowed brighter, and the pain became unbearable. Soon, the sensation was all she could truly concentrate on. It was all she could do to keep from yanking that thing off and throwing it away, her pride refusing to give in even as her strength failed her, and she collapsed to the ground.
“Maya!” Harper called out in worry. “Maya, take it off!”
Curled in the fetal position on the ground, Maya cried out in pain. It was getting hard to breathe, but no matter how hard she tried, every attempt to unleash her magic only intensified the needles-in-veins pain. How had the others fought this so much? It was excruciating!
Unbeknownst to her, darkness had begun to rise from the ground around her, curling like smoke in a crystal ball, obstructing everyone’s view of her. The other side of her magic was begging her to release it, to let it do its job. Sensing her hesitance and fear, it broke through her control. The next thing Maya knew, she was crying as the already unstable earth opened up underneath her, and she was falling.
When the darkness retreated, finally giving them visibility, the witches’ eyes widened. Maya wasn’t in the barrier anymore, but the barrier was still very much alive and up.
Clarissa’s eyes widened, shocked beyond belief.
“Where is she?” Sam coughed on his smoke, his dark eyes wide.
Clarissa couldn’t answer, and she hated it.