Will of the Witch [Legacy, BK 2 - Completed]

Chapter 14.2

Ezra

The portal opened exactly where I'd pictured John earlier. Unfortunately, it'd taken longer than I'd wanted to get everyone together. Hunter and Benji stepped through first, then Dad, Anissa, and Tessa. Once the six of us were through, I closed the portal down and looked around, trying to get a bearing of where we were and which way John had gone.

"It's too dark. I don't see anything," Benji commented.

Hunter didn't waste time, summoning his demon there on the spot. Anissa and Tessa did the same. I focused first on which way John had gone, knowing he still had to be here, and sure enough, as soon as I'd opened up to my power, he was there on the web, easy enough to find now that I knew what to look for.

"He's east of here, not too far-"

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I was tempted to leave it, but the thought of Avery home with our moms and as well as Thea and Kaylee had me pulling it out of my pocket. If there was something wrong-

I glanced at the screen briefly but froze when I saw the message.

It wasn't from Avery.

"What's wrong?" Tessa asked.

Looking up, I searched for Dad's presence in the darkness. I wasn't sure how to deal with the text I'd just gotten.

"Liam texted me," I said and shoved the phone back into my pocket. "He wants to meet. Now."

"Where?" It was hard to see Dad's expression in the dark light, but the stern tone of his voice clued me into the resignation he felt.

"At the Vault."

"Wait," Hunter interrupted. "Is this the same guy that shot John with the dart?"

"We don't have time to be talking about this here," Benji hissed.

And he was right. I needed to make a decision. "Anissa and Tessa, stay here with Benji and Hunter. Find John and get him home. Whatever you have to do, I don't care if you have to knock him out. Dad and I will go and meet with Liam."

"Which way is John?" Benji asked.

After searching again with my mind, I pointed the way. "Past these buildings and set back into the forest a bit; there's another structure. He's there."

Benji nodded. "We'll go around then," he said to the others, and they slipped off into the darkness.

"What did his text say?" Dad asked.

I turned, building yet another portal. My energy was running low, and it worried me that I wouldn't be at my full strength when I faced off against my brother.

"He said he knew where Lyssa was. "

"And?"

"That was it."

The portal connected to my family's mountainside, showing a forest just as dark but much more familiar than the one we stood in now. Dad didn't wait, stepping through before I even asked. I followed him quickly and shut the portal down before I lost more energy I couldn't spare.

We stood outside the gated fence that encircled the Stanwood cemetery and guarded the entry to the Vault. Dad unlocked the gate and pulled it open, channeling his power as he did so. I summoned Kastem, and the demon appeared by my side. Following dad, we walked the worn path through the headstones. The wind picked up, the rustling of the trees urgent in the silence of the early morning hours.

"The vault," Dad whispered.

I looked ahead. The large stone that served as the Vault's door stood open, a light throwing a soft glow on the nearby headstones.

Dad's light touch on my arm stopped me. "Be careful, Ezra. There's a grave missing a body."

What was Liam's goal here? Why bring us back here? To fight? No one else had the power to raise a body from its grave.

"Oh, this is fun," Liam's voice echoed out from the Vault. "A wonderful family reunion, except, wait. Ezra isn't a part of our family, is he?" Liam stepped free of the Vault interior to face us.

"He is your brother! Family is more than blood, Liam," Dad called out to him.

The wind picked up again, leaves and a dead branch fell nearby. Kastem grew tense beside me, a low growl coming from him as Liam stepped closer.

"Family is only blood." His voice was dark, and I did not like the deadly edge to it. "How could you keep such a secret from us? From me?"

Beside me, Dad stood still. "There was no secret to keep, Liam. Once we adopted Ezra, he was ours. No one else's-"

"He's not one of us!" Liam pointed a finger at me as lightning struck, a flash throwing harsh shadows across his scarred face. But what scared me the most wasn't the face I'd grown up with but the look in his eyes. He was completely different, almost crazed. Not at all the Liam I once knew.

"Where is Lyssa?" I asked, knowing that any further debate of whether I was family or not would get us nowhere.

Thunder rolled over the mountain, thick clouds covering the stars and hinting at the threat of rain.

"I'm not particularly ready to disclose that information yet. No, I'd much rather we talk about something else."

I glanced at Dad, unsure what to make of the change in Liam. He seemed so different to the Liam I'd grown up with and even to the brother I'd seen just weeks ago at the Reinhardt house.

"What do you want to talk about then?" Dad asked as the first drops of rain started to fall.

Liam's eyes flashed with white, icy power as he pulled a switchblade from his pocket and flipped it open, exposing the blade.

"It's time for you to step down as Head of the Family, Dad."