“It’s a lovely day,” he says. “I didn’t expect it to be so pretty here.”
“Iowa always gets crap, but I love it. Where are you from?”
“California.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Bay Area.”
He drove halfway across the country to get here? I expected something like Chicago at the most. “Wow.”
“It’s not as exciting as it sounds.”
I don’t know what to say. I need to keep him with me, but if Nana is right about the spying spell, our enemy could use any words I speak. Or anything he mentions. It’s best to get to the willow tree and get this over with.
This particular willow is a favorite place of mine. I’ve spent hours there with Gwen and Kat, hanging from the branches or sipping lemonade in the summer heat. It grows right at the edge of town, near a creek we’d put our feet in to cool off. It’s huge, like a natural house complete with heavy vine curtains. And unbeknownst to my friends, there is a little bit of magic there. Not like our ivy-covered home, but enough to help in my task.
“Where are we headed?” he asks as we step into the field. The darkness trembles with excitement, as if it thinks I’m about to reveal a great secret. It sickens me, but I force myself forward.
“To the tree. Somewhere private.”
“Oh.” He looks at his feet. The ground is still muddy from the last rain, and some of it has found its way onto his expensive-looking leather shoes.
Great, my dad’s a pansy.
“C’mon.” I keep walking, hoping that he will follow despite his ruined footwear. The world under the willow is cool and damp and dark. I breathe in the magic, knowing my stores will be depleted very soon.
My father puts his hands on his hips, taking in the giant tree. “Wow, this is pretty cool.”
“Yup.” I smile, despite the darkness creeping toward me, and pull the pearl from my pocket.
He squints at it. “What’s that?”
I take a few steps toward him, the shadows finally licking at my heels. They hiss as they try to touch me, angry that they can’t enter. “This will fix you.”
And with that, I grab him by the neck and shove the pearl into his eye.
EIGHT
He screams, his hands instinctively going to his face. His fingers grab at mine, strong despite their shaking. The shadows curl around me like a thousand snakes as they try to break through the amulet. Blood trickles from his eyes as he crumples to his knees. I follow so my spell will stay inside him. The mossy dirt is spongy, and soon my jeans are wet. My father pushes against me, trying to throw me off balance.
As awful as I feel, I hold my ground. I have to. Already the darkness is leaving his body, his eyes being purged of the black curse on them. Shadows fight to enter me, to stop me from removing them. If it weren’t for Nana’s amulet, I’d be consumed by their power already.
“Why?” he moans, and all my insides shrivel up.
“I’m sorry. It’ll be over soon.”
The darkness has nearly left my father, but now it’s everywhere. It saturates the air so much that I can hardly see him in front of me. All is black, heavy, and endless like death. I take in a sharp breath when the first of the shadows breaks through. It’s cold and power and hate, and it makes me tremble. This amulet won’t last long enough, not against this.
My dad goes limp, but the battle has just begun. I stand, my legs brittle like raven bones, and concentrate on pushing the darkness away from me. It jumps back, but it’s strong and persistent. I’m not sure I’ll have enough magic to get rid of it all. And worse, I swear it knows me. I don’t know what that means but I don’t like it. Without a noise, it tells me how badly it wants me.
It wants to consume.
It wants to hear me scream.
It will enjoy every second it tortures me.
No. Scare tactics won’t work on me. I’m the one with the power here. Taking deep breaths, I draw on the magic in the tree and force the black away from my body. Slowly, slowly, it retreats. I can see my father on the ground, the soft swinging of the willow branches, the light peeking through the vines. The darkness swirls in front of me, like a storm cloud twisted up on itself.
And then it opens its eyes.
That is so not normal.
Limbs begin to form from the cloud, and I stand there, terrified and unsure of what to do. This was not in the plan. We thought my dad had a spying curse, not whatever this thing is. And by the way it looks at me, its hunger depthless, I have a feeling it’s . . .
“Get back!” Nana cries from behind me.
I whirl around, relieved to find a door to our house standing there under the tree. Nana rushes forward, a dagger in hand. Not your normal dagger, of course, but one made from the jaw of a lion and dipped in white rose oil.
The darkness laughs—at least that’s what I think the crackling sound is. Now it looks human, but not quite. It’s more like the shadow of a person, if a shadow could stand in front of you and feel as heavy as iron. It lunges for Nana, but she ducks and shoves the dagger right into its belly.
Poof.
Not a scream or anything. It just poofed, as if it wasn’t a threat at all. I let out a breath, feeling lighter now that it’s gone. Nana puts a hand to one knee, panting and trembling from the loss of magic. I feel the weakness in my bones, too, but she must have used much more magic than I did, casting whatever spell that was.
I go back to my dad. He looks awful, his eyes bloody and his clothing covered in dirt. I kneel next to him and put my hand on his cheek. It’s warm and prickly and not at all dark anymore. “You’re safe.”
Nana clears her throat. “Josephine. We have another problem.”
“Wha—?” I look up to find exactly what she means.
Kat.
She stands by the willow’s trunk, frozen like a statue. I have no idea when she got there, but it must have been while everything was dark because I swear no one was around. I’ve been so careful not to give any clue about my heritage, and now she’s seen enough to give her nightmares for years.
I take a shaky step forward. “Kat . . .”
“What the hell?” She shakes her head. “What the hell, Jo?”
I glance at Nana, unsure of what to do. Can I explain? Are we going to be concocting a mind-erase spell this evening? “I . . .”
Kat points to my dad. “What did you do to him? Did you kill him? Are you gonna kill me now?”
“No! It’s not what you think,” I say, though it’s probably mostly what she thinks. “I’m not a murderer. He’s fine—better than he was with that thing inside him.”
Nana clears her throat. “Calm down, child.”
Kat stares at her. “Calm down? You’re the witch who lives under the bridge, aren’t you? I thought that was a joke!”
“Your choices are simple.” Nana waves the dagger at her. “Come with us willingly, or come by force.”
I didn’t think it was possible, but Kat’s eyes get wider. “Those are my only choices?”
“I suppose I could remove your vocal cords, if you’d like a third,” Nana says.
Kat’s hand goes to her throat. “Option one, please.”
“Good.” Nana pulls open the door. “Get your father, Josephine.”
“Father?” Kat says it like it never crossed her mind that I had one, and then Nana shoves her inside.
“Be right there.” I put my hands on my hips, trying to process what happened. This didn’t go even remotely according to plan, but at least that evil spell is gone. Never mind the creepy shadow and one of my best friends walking in on an exorcism. I’ll take one problem at a time, and right now that would be figuring out how best to carry my dad into the house when I’m barely strong enough to stand after using all that magic.