My dad pulled me up. He didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say. Instead, he pulled me into his arms and just held me. I wanted to cry, but couldn't. There were no tears. I felt empty, cold. He was gone and there wasn't a thing I could do to bring him back. But there was one person I still might be able to save.
"Dad, Jeff," I pulled away. "They shot him, please, you have to find him."
"I know," he nodded. "I've already got people on their way to get him."
"He has to be alive," I whispered. He had to be.
Billy brought Kay over to me. Her legs were covered in burns and she whimpered as he moved her. She reached out blindly and I took her hand. I noticed Billy had used his shirt to bind the wound on her arm. Dad stepped away so we could talk.
"Sorry," she whispered hoarsely. "So, sorry."
"Shh," I soothed. "Don't talk. We need to get her to a hospital."
"I know," Billy fretted, "but she wouldn't go anywhere until she talked to you."
"You little bitch!" My mother screamed from behind me. I turned and stared at her in horror as she flew at me, Deputy Sims' gun aimed and cocked.
Time didn't slow down like it did in the movies. It happened so quickly, I would have missed it if I'd blinked. Kay threw herself out of Billy's arms and knocked me down. The bullet hit her instead of me. It threw her backwards a good ten feet.
"KAY!" Billy let out a strangled cry and rushed to her.
I stared at my mother. My mother.
"Mama?" I whispered.
"You ruined everything!" she spat. "Everything!" She cocked the gun again, but my father wrestled it from her.
"Rebecca, you may have killed one child, but you will not harm the other."
"Daddy?"
"I'm sorry, CJ." He looked so tired. "I didn't know before tonight. I swear I didn't know she'd planned Emily's death."
Planned it? "I..." Shock, anger, hurt—they all warred within me. She was our mother. She had planned Emily's death?
"I'll deal with your mother," he told me. "See to Makayla."
Kay—I forgot her when I heard Dad's words. I ran. Billy's hand pressed into the wound in her shoulder. Her face was graying. No, I thought desperately. I couldn't lose her too.
"CJ," she gasped. "Love you...forgive me...so...sorry..."
I couldn't save Ethan, but I'd be damned if I'd let Kay die.
"Spirit, aide me once more this night.
Settle into your daughter and help her find peace and feel your healing balm."
Kay let out a gurgle of pain at the force of the blast that hit her. It didn't just settle, it attacked. She cried out and tried to fight it, but in the end it was too strong. She collapsed into unconsciousness. I felt the Element begin to strengthen her, heal the wounds inside her soul, my soul.
"She'll be alright," I whispered. "Get her to the hospital."
"No," Dr. Allen, the town doctor shook his head. "There will be too many questions asked, Mistress. Bring her to the clinic. I'll tend her there."
"I'm not..."
"Yes, Mistress," Mr. Corey nodded. "We tend our own. Marcus, take Rebecca, Jonas and Tom into custody. We'll deal with them in the morning."
I stared in shock as Deputy Hall collected my mother, Mr. Martin, and Deputy Sims. He and a few others herded them away from the clearing.
My father wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "You're safe now."
"What is going on?" I asked him dazed. "Everyone was so intent on killing me, now they're..."
He smiled at me. "The rain, Cassie Jayne. Spirit flows within it. It is commanded by your will. You have purged the hatred from their hearts with the strength and love in your own. It will take time for us to begin anew, but we will. You made sure of that."
"But Mom..."
He sighed. "Your mother damned herself when she conspired to kill your sister. I'm not sure anything can heal the darkness in her soul or that she even wants to be healed. I'm so sorry, honey. If there's a way to help her, we can try if you want. It's up to you."
"Everyone's calling me Mistress."
"Because you are, sweetheart. You were born to be the Coven leader. The book chose you a long time ago. It saw in you all the qualities it recognized in the last true Coven leader."
"I don't want this, Dad..."
"I told you once before, Cassie Jayne, it doesn't matter what you want or what you believe. You were born to be the Coven Mistress and you will."
"But I don't know how...I'm not ready..."
"I'll help you."
"I..."
"Shh." He leaned down and kissed my forehead like he used to do when I was little. "It'll be alright."
The town began to clean up the clearing. When they brought Jeff out of the woods, I beat his mother to the stretcher. He was alive. Relief swept through me and the hard ball of fear that had been in my stomach uncurled. I could breathe again.
"Thank the Fates," I breathed and grabbed his hand. "You're alive."
He tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace. The bullet had hit him in the chest. It was a miracle he was still breathing.
"We need to get him to the clinic, Mistress," John, one of the paramedics, gently pushed me away. "He's lost a lot of blood and the bullet is still in there. Doc has a lot of work to do."
"Let me help," I whispered and called upon Spirit once more.
"Spirit, aide me again this night.
Settle into your son and help him find peace and feel your healing balm."
He let out a painful gasp as Spirit invaded his body, but I smiled reassuringly. The Element would keep him alive until Doc could patch him up.
I nodded. "I'll come see you in a bit, Jeff."
My dad wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "You know, sweetheart, love isn't always fireworks and intensity. Sometimes love creeps up on you slowly and hits you when you least expect it."
"Dad," I said in a warning voice. I couldn't deal with this right now. Not yet.
"I know you're hurting, CJ. You loved Ethan, but don't close yourself off from love because of that pain. That boy right there loves you more than life itself. I think he's more than proven that."
He had proven it, over and over again. Truth was, I realized something when I saw him fall in the woods, when I didn't know if he was alive or dead. My dad was right. Love did creep up on you when you least expected it. Over the last month, I'd gotten to know Jeff really well and had seen him for the person he was. I loved him. Not like I did Ethan, but I loved him nonetheless. I just wasn't ready to deal with it yet.
"I know, Dad. I just need a little while to think, okay?"
He nodded. I pulled away from him and started walking away from the clearing. Once everyone was out of site, I ran. Hard and fast. I ran from the screaming in my own head, from the shattering of my heart. My world had cracked into a million tiny pieces.
I ended up falling to my knees under the tree in the park I thought of as mine and Ethan's. It was here the tears finally came. My shoulders shook and I shoved my fist into my mouth to keep from screaming. Ethan was gone...my family torn to pieces...I'd lost everything.
"No, little sister, you haven't lost everything."
My head snapped up. I blinked several times, but she didn't disappear. Emily. She stood not a foot from me, smiling.
"How..."
"Samhain," she grinned. "The night when the veil is at its thinnest. I was able to cross over for a few minutes."
I jumped up and threw myself at her. I passed straight through her body and landed on my face.
She laughed herself silly. "Oh, that was a Kodak moment if ever there was one."
"I thought you were like Ethan..."
Her face sobered at that. "No, Ethan was different. He was made whole to make sure the curse was fulfilled."
"He's gone, Ems," I whispered, the sob coming out despite my best efforts. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer and punched holes in every part of my body. I hurt everywhere. This was worse than when Emily died. I didn't know if I could bear it.
"You really love him, don't you?" Emily asked.
I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees. "More than anything in this world."
She smiled. "Well then, you're gonna love my birthday present, little sister."
"Birthday present?"
She pointed to the edge of the trees. I saw the same silver light I'd seen in the clouds. Ethan stepped through it. He looked confused and more than a little shocked. But alive. My heart stuttered. Alive. He was alive and here.
"Ethan?"
He heard my whisper and his eyes met mine. We stared at each other for the longest time.
Then he smiled that devilish smile of his and started toward us
"Happy birthday, Cassie Jayne," Emily whispered into my ear.
"But how?"
"It wasn't easy, let me tell you. I have been arguing for days with the other side. He was made flesh and blood so he could fulfill the curse. The only way to do that was to kill you, but he wouldn't do it. They told him in order for you to live, he had to give up his life. The sacrifice would taint the dark magic and ruin the ritual. The man died for you, CJ."
"I know."
"Anyway, I wasn't about to let you lose the one person who made you happier than I've ever seen you when you were about to lose everything else."
"What did you do, Ems?"
"She threw the most god awful fit you've ever seen," Ethan laughed as he reached us. "And quoted old laws I didn't even know existed." He pulled me up and wrapped me in his arms. He spun me around in a circle before kissing me soundly. He was here, alive. Ethan was really here. I couldn't believe it.
"Yup," she grinned. "Sacrifice yourself for the greater good and They owe you."
"They?" I asked.
"Sorry, can't tell you. It's against the rules."
"Rules?" There were rules in the afterlife?
She nodded. "I have another reason for coming back, CJ. I came to warn you, little sister."
"Warn me?"
"Before I died, I was having dreams of a darkness coming."
"I know. I read your diary," I nodded. "I thought you meant this, the curse."
"No," she shook her head. "What I saw is still coming. It's dark and truly evil. That's all I'm allowed to tell you."
"But..."
"No question. You have to figure it out yourself."
"That's not fair, Ems. You can't give me some cryptic warning and expect me to not ask questions!"
"You're a smart cookie, kid. You'll figure it out," Emily smiled. "I have to go now, Cassie Jayne."
"Now? You have to leave now? But Dad..."
"I already saw him for a minute. He'll be okay."
"I miss you so much, Emily." I couldn't stop the tears. "All the time."
"I miss you too, little sister," she whispered. "I love you, Cassie Jayne."
"I love you too, Emily."
She smiled at me one last time and walked away and into the silver light Ethan had come through.
I buried my head in Ethan's chest and cried.
"Shh, Cassie, it'll be okay," Ethan soothed.
"I know," I hiccupped and looked up into eyes the color of the fog after a rain. They were so serious, but full of joy.
"I'm sorry, Cassie. I know you were scared, but I had to act like I was going to let them kill you. If I'd taken you and run, it wouldn't have helped. They would have tracked us down. There was only way to stop the curse. I had to taint the ashes. The only way I could get near the ashes was to let Martin believe I was on his side and for that to work, you couldn't know I was working on a way to save you. It almost killed me to let you think I didn't care, that I wanted you dead."
I shivered, remembering the look of ice in his eyes, remembering how he hadn't moved to help me when Mr. Martin hit me. I understood he only acted that way to try and save me, but it would be a long time before I forgot it.
"Don't you ever try and keep me safe by not telling me something again," I told him. "I will forgive you this time, Ethan Matthew Warren, but never again. Do you understand me? I won't go through that ever again."
"Cassie, you heard your sister. Something is coming. I'll do whatever I have to if it means keeping you alive and safe."
"Never again, Ethan. I mean it. I'll leave your ass sitting here right now. I have to be able to trust you."
"Cassie..."
I glared. This was not something I was going to back down from.
"No more lies, Ethan...or should I say Matthew?"
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Call me Ethan. Matthew died a long time ago."
"The night Sara died?"
He nodded.
"Why didn't you stay with Sara?" I had to know.
He sighed. "I loved Sara, avenging her death became my soul purpose in life. It gave me strength, but it filled my heart with hatred. When you came along, Cassie, you made me feel something other than hatred. You made me feel alive and whole. You gave me strength through your love. I loved Sara, I did, but I don't think I was ever really in love with her. You taught me what it means to be in love with someone. I have lived hundreds of years, and was never truly alive until I met you."
"How did that happen anyway?" He wasn't a ghost, but he was something.
"The curse basically gave me immortality. I've been alive since that night."
Immortal? The air left my lungs. Immortal?
"I'm not anymore," he said in a rush. "I'll age and die just like you. I gave up my immortality to save you."
"Thank you," I smiled and leaned into him. "For saving me, but you still have to promise never to lie to me again."
"You haven't forgotten that, huh?"
"Nope."
"Fine, I'll try to never lie to you again."
"Try?"
Ethan tilted my face up to his. "I love you, Cassie Jayne Bishop." He leaned down to kiss me and as always, I was lost, my doubts flying out the window in the face of his kiss.
The Fates had smiled upon us. At least for now.
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