Chapter Sixteen
"I must be smoking something," Tracy muttered as she passed.
Raven's head snapped up. "What?"
Tracy nodded. "I'm pretty sure I just saw Nick Armstrong smile."
Raven grinned. "Has anyone else witnessed your hallucination?"
Tracy shrugged. "Don't know. I've yet to ask. I'm glad to see that his arm's workingagain."
"Yeah, he sure hated sitting around, hardly being able to do things for himself," Raven said. "It's pretty amazing. The doctors thought that he wouldn't ever be able to use it again." The truth was he wouldn't have been able to, but he had enough of that Armstrong stubbornness to keep fighting and had lived through Laurel's crystal tea. Raven smiled to herself, remembering the expression on Nick's face after he'd had his first swallow. Doug had kindly distracted Laurel so that she wouldn't see the comical look that came over Nick's face as he choked down the nasty concoction. The rest of the Circle had been trying not to laugh.
Tracy leaned closer, lowering her voice. "He's starting to look pretty normal. Think he's got a girlfriend?"
Raven was saved having to answer when Deborah called her to lunch. She left her post and headed for the back. Nick caught her around the waist as she passed and kissed her.
"How are you doing?" he asked, something mischievous dancing in his eyes.
"Fine, why?" Raven was vaguely suspicious.
"Because I have a small private space in the back where we can eat together." Nick grinned and grabbed her hand, leading her behind the door where only he and Big George ever went. He took her through the dimly lit passages that seemed to be ever twisting and turning. When the journey ended, they arrived at a small alcove where a blanket had been laid out, along with two unlit candles and a basket.
Nick smiled at her shyly. He took her hand and they sat down together. Nick reached out and lit both candles with one hand, using matches the old-fashioned way. Then he reached out and opened the basket.
"What do you want to drink?" he asked.
"What have you got?"
Nick peered into the basket. "Water, grape juice and some fruity thing Laurel mixed."
"Water," Raven said, and Nick brought out a glass bottle with a
corked top.He poured some water into two wineglasses and then proceeded to lay out all the food. Raven moved to help him, but he insisted that she let him do it. When he was done, they began to eat, speaking in low voices like two little kids hiding in the bushes after stealing a cookie jar and sharing the spoils. Nick spooned some of the pie into her mouth and she ate it, giggling. They fed eachother the whole time, giggling and laughing. When they were done, they sat in each other's arms, just holding each other and listening. The silver cord
shimmered between them, unseen but humming with energy.
"I always wondered why Cassie and Adam are always holding each other," Nick whispered. "It feels wonderful." He kissed Raven softly.
She returned the kiss. Nick wrapped his arms around her and...
BEEP BEEP!
Nick broke the kiss and groaned. "What's that?"
Raven looked down at her watch and hit a button. "Just warning me that I have five more minutes before I have to be out there and working again."
Nick looked down at her and kissed her forehead.
"I checked with Big George, and there aren't anymore deliveries for us today," he said. "I'll be your cart boy."
Raven nodded and pulled out of his arms reluctantly. "All right, but we'll have to get back to work."
They cleared up their space and took everything back to the main room. Raven had the basket over one arm and Nick had the candles and blanket.
"Where were you?" Diana asked as they emerged into the light.
Nick and Raven exchanged a grin and parted ways, leaving Diana mystified.
"All fed?" Chris teased as Raven slid back into place.
She shot him a look and moved the 'lane closed' sign. People began drifting her way. Raven rolled her eyes as she recognized the blonde and redhead from before.
"Don't look now, but here comes your hottie," the blonde said, digging an elbow into her friend's ribs. She giggled.
Raven felt a presence behind her as Nick passed.
Chris took one look at Nick and scampered away to talk to Doug and Del.
"What are we doing tonight?" Raven asked. Even though she was a member of the Circle now she never seemed to know what was going on.
"We're just doing the usual stuff," Nick answered. He was referring to the training and studying they did every night. Those who had brought their Books of Shadows were going through and reviving the old ways. "Oh, yeah, and it's AJ's birthday."
Raven's mouth dropped open. She scanned the girls' groceries through.
"I can't believe I forgot!" she gasped. "I have to get him something."
Nick smirked. "A girlfriend, maybe."
Raven shot him a look. "He doesn't want anyone playing matchmaker for him." AJ liked to flirt a lot, and even though he knew lots of girls, none of them seemed really interested in him.
Raven noticed the blonde and redhead whispering. She turned to them.
"I've noticed you two come in here often," she said casually. "What are your names?"
"I'm Brooke, and this is Alice," the redhead said. She was staring at Nick.
"I'm Raven," she said, pointing to her name-tag. "This is Nick."
Brooke nodded, her eyes never leaving him. Nick looked up and noticed her stare. He smiled politely.
"How old are you?" Alice asked.
"I turn eighteen this month," Raven said. She glanced at Nick. "I'm exactly seven days younger than AJ."
Nick grinned at her. "You were born on Valentines Day? Lucky your
parents didn't name you something weird like Cupid." He laughed.
Brooke stared. "You're only, like, a junior?"
Raven shrugged. "I'll go to night school or something, maybe get a GED.
Nick frowned. "You're so smart, why bother with night school?"
Raven cast him a sidelong glance. "You're smart too, you just never tried."
Alice stared in something like awe and horror. "You don't go to school?< What do your parents think?"
"They're dead," Nick and Raven said at the same time.
Brooke looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry." Then she looked back and forth between Raven and Nick. "Are you two brother and sister?"
Nick shook his head. "I never knew my parents."
"Mine died when I was six," Raven said.
Nick finished bagging the groceries and put the last bag into the cart.
Raven rang up the total and waited while the two girls paid. She decided to give Alice a share of action and called for one of the Henderson brothers to take the cart out to their car.
"Did you notice that Brooke was staring at you?" Raven asked.
Nick nodded. Then he grinned. "Are you jealous?"
Raven shook her head. She was rarely jealous of stupid things like a guy liking a girl more than he did her -- she always had guy friends even if she never really did have boyfriends. She was only ever jealous of the other kids when they had parents and didn't have to go to stupid Circle meetings every night.
"Well, we'd better get back to work," Raven said.
"I didn't want to say it with the two girls around, but I heard we're working with the Master Tools tonight," Nick said, turning serious.
Raven looked up in surprise. "Really? That should be exciting.
Nick nodded, and then they turned their attention to the next customer.
"What does your Book say?" Laurel asked, leaning over to peer into Melanie's book.
Melanie flipped through the pages. "I can't find anything.
"Maybe they weren't the Master Tools for our Circle," Sean suggested.
Deborah gave him a scornful look. "We're the only Circle there is. We're the last generation, too."
At the reminder of their dead parents, there was a long silence.
"Well, maybe Raven's parents were part of a Circle," Sean suggested.
"Maybe you're just stupid," Doug retorted.
"Boys," Diana warned, giving them a stern look.
They looked away meekly.
Cassie was wearing the Master Tools and Diana was holding the dagger.
"Cassie, your line always had the clearest Sight," Suzan said. "Why don't you try something?
"I could feel the Power in it," Nick said. "I just didn't feel a way to tap into it."
"Maybe one of us could trigger something," Melanie said. "Not to be disrespectful or anything, but Cassie wasn't the leader and she found the Master Tools.
Diana passed the dagger to Adam. He turned it over in his hands, trying to find a way to draw out the Power that lay within the metal. He passed it to Laurel, who frowned and then passed it to Melanie. She just held it, staring, her eyes fixed in concentration. Then she gave it to Suzan. The strawberry-blonde weighed it in her hands, her china-blue eyes puzzled.
Deborah took the knife and tried to tap into it, too. Doug took the knife and made a few practice stabs before trying to see if he could get it to do anything. After a few moments he gave up and handed it to his brother. Chris held it, tracing the pattern on the hilt and staring down at it, like he was trying to think. Nick took it, tracing the familiar engraving on the hilt, his eyes dark, Power humming in the air around him. Finally, Raven took it.
She turned it over in her hands. She had heard of the Nick's miraculous discovery but had never seen the dagger before. Or had she?
There was a flash of light in her mind as she remembered something.
An old woman, positively ancient, her skin nothing but hundreds of translucent wrinkles, her eyes distant with ageless wisdom. Standing in the center of a circle, firelight dancing off of her silver bracelet as she held something over her head, chanting words. She held a dagger...
"Feel anything?" Diana asked, dragging her back to the present.
Raven blinked. "Huh? Oh, hang on a second." She rose up in her place, holding the dagger over her head, blade pointing downwards as if she were about to stab something below. The flames of the fire crackled -- was it just their imaginations or were the flames unnaturally high?
"O silver blade, forged in the sun,
By hands was not made,
By lightning cut, and thunder beaten,
And moonlight cooled,
By wind tempered and strengthened.
By ice cut from silver blossom,
By stone borne the ore.
I call on thy spirit to bring forth
The Power that abides within.
I ask you to hear me,
O silver blade,
And obey that on this night we shall obtain
Thy roots of knowledge and Power gained
From thy Master's hand,
And thy Smith's blood,
Cured by night and cleaned in wood.
I call you now!
Come alive!
I call you now!
I invoke thy sisters,
The wind and the earth!
I invoke thy brothers,
The fire and the rain!
I invoke thee!"
The rest of the Circle stared at Raven in shock. A breeze rose up and ruffled the dark strands of hair falling in her face. There was something in her eyes like knowing, as if she had said the words before. The flames were definitely higher than usual. As they watched, lightning snaked down from
the sky and flashed.
They all turned to see it as it cracked like a whip, briefly illuminating the surface of the ocean so that they could see the dark blue waves stretching out for eternity in all directions.
Diana and Cassie tensed, feeling Power, awesome and huge, building in the air. The small breeze that was making the flames dip and dive, began to grow steadily stronger. It was above the fire now, and it was becoming a vortex for the flames were suddenly a tall column of twisting golden flame. The wind was completely silent, and they knew that it was Power-generated.
Sean was staring up at Raven with huge eyes. Deborah's eyes were alight -- wind was her element, and she was basking in its building Power. Then it began to howl. Suzan threw her hands up to protect her face as sand began stinging at
her like a hundred thousand needles set on puncturing her skin.
'What are you doing?" Adam yelled over the rising cacophony. But he couldn't see Raven through the sandstorm.
"Make it stop!" Sean pleaded.
"Deb, do something!" Diana shouted.
"I can't!" Deborah shouted back.
Cassie and Diana were thinking the same thing right then. Either that knife had a lot of Power or Raven was almost as powerful as Black John had been.
No one knew what was going on with anyone else. Total chaos reigned -- the fire was billowing higher and now was a pillar twenty feet tall. No one could open their eyes because they were being attacked by sand. Sean was crying. A volley of curses came from Chris and Doug. Deborah and Suzan were under Deborah's
jacket. Adam had his arms around Cassie and was yelling for Raven to stop. He
could just hear her voice blending into the symphony of calamity as she yelled
words over the wind.
"STOP!"
There was utter silence.
Diana lifted her head. The fire was out and wind was everywhere. The others sat up, blinking, unable to see. Cassie pulled free of Adam and lit the fire with her mind. The flames flared up, revealing Raven curled up in the sand, her face buried in her arms.
Melanie began to laugh when they saw Sean burrowed beneath Nick, quaking in terror. Nick pushed him away and crawled over to Raven.
"Are you all right?" he asked her.
"What did you do?" Doug demanded.
Yeah," Suzan agreed. "You messed up my make-up."
Chris rolled his eyes.
"Who shouted 'stop'?" Laurel asked.
"Said I, who wants the child," came a voice like a creaking doors from beyond the light. An old woman leaning on a cane hobbled into view. She was stooped and old, her skin a mass of translucent wrinkles, her knuckles bony and protruding. Her silver bracelet flashed in the firelight.
"Who are you and what kid do you want? 'Cause we don't have any," Doug said.
Adam gave him a warning look. "Pardon my asking, ma'am, but we have no idea what child you want.
The old woman pointed her cane at Nick.
"Aye, that young one," she said.
Deborah frowned. "My cousin?"
"Nay, the lass," the old woman replied.
Nick cradled Raven to him. She lay unconscious in his arms.
"Is she all right?" Laurel asked.
"What do you want her for?" Nick asked warily. The old woman was about to answer when Raven stirred in his arms.
"Are you okay?" Nick asked. Raven groaned and sat up, holding on to Nick's shoulder for support.
"Yeah, but I feel like a pincushion," she muttered. Then she saw the old woman.
"Old Mother," she breathed. She pulled away from Nick and stood up, giving a curtsy.
Chris and Doug watched curiously.
"You know her?" Sean asked.
"Child, you're three years late in becoming part of the Circle," the old woman said, hobbling over to Raven. She reached out and touched Raven's head, and the girl straightened up.
"I..." Raven trailed off, avoiding the elderly woman's gaze.
"You what?" the old woman demanded.
"I thought you were dead, Old Mother," she said quietly.
"Don't be silly, child. 'Tis your own folly for not being there when you were needed. We have our lad, but we need a lass to make us whole. You must take your mother's place," the old woman said, banging her cane.
The others drew back, surprised.
Raven shook her head. "I already have a place in this Circle, Old Mother."
"You were bound from birth to join the Circle of Midnight, not some adolescent Twilight group," the old woman snapped, "or have you forgotten the rules of your binding?"
Raven looked blank.
"Look!" the old woman commanded, pointing.
Raven looked down and gasped. There was a vertical slash down her arm, and blood was trickling out. Nick jumped up and grabbed her arm.
"Laurel, give her something!" he cried, his voice tinged with terror.
The old woman smiled. "I see you have forgotten. You must come when summoned or it means death.
Raven was still staring down at her wrist, but the blood was suddenly gone.
"Illusion," Melanie breathed.
The old woman reached out and clamped a bony hand around Raven's wrist. Raven flinched; her hand was ice cold.
"Come, child, we must not linger," she said. She turned to go, pulling Raven way from the others.
"You can't break the Circle!" Cassie cried.
The old woman was standing outside the Circle, but Raven was still inside. The old woman paused, frowning.
"Open the Circle and release her," she ordered, looking at Cassie.
"No," Nick said. He stood up and went to Raven, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Raven stays here, with us, with me."
"Yeah, she's our twelfth," Chris called out.
"She is bound to us!" the old woman shrieked, tugging on Raven's
arm. Raven didn't resist.
"Raven, stay," Nick begged.
She looked at him mutely.
"Come on!" the old woman cried. "Turn her loose!"
Nick gazed into Raven's eyes, about to have his heart broken forever.
The old woman eyed him shrewdly.
"The youth has feelings for you, little Dove." She frowned, her face becoming more wrinkly. "Ah! The lad is your soulmate. Did you remove the charm given to every child at birth? Foolish girl." She tugged on Raven again.
"Don't go," Nick pleaded, his eyes full of tears.
Raven just stared at him, silent. Then she looked down. Nick followed her gaze. He gave a cry -- her wrist was gushing blood.
"No! Raven!" -- he looked down at the others desperately -- "Someone help!"
Raven sank against him. Nick caught her and held her. Raven gazed up at him, her eyes dim.
"Raven!" Chris cried, jumping to his feet. He shook her, but to no avail. He spun and glared at the old woman. "Make it stop, now!"
Doug was on his feet and beside his brother, yelling at the old woman. She just smiled at them, leaning on her cane and making no move to help. Nick was holding Raven as Melanie and Laurel tried to stop the bleeding.
"Nick," Raven whispered.
He looked down at her, his eyes wide and afraid. "Hold on, Raven, hold on."
"I'm bound..." Raven's voice faded.
The old woman grinned. "From her own lips. Keep her in the Circle a moment longer and she is no more."
Nick began to cry. He pushed the others away and lifted Raven in his arms. She was strangely light, as if her spirit had gone from her body. The others stood back, except for Cassie who opened the Circle. Nick, tears streaming down his face, stepped out of the Circle with Raven in his arms. He leaned down and gave her one last kiss. The old woman stepped forwards and took her limp form from him. She was surprisingly strong for an old woman. She turned and vanished into the darkness with Raven in her arms, her cane discarded and tossed aside. Nick stared, his eyes empty, then fell to his knees, bursting into tears, burying his head in his hands stained with her blood.
He could feel the silver cord being drawn out and stretched thin, holding on by its last. It was if as his heart was being cut out by a blunt knife right then and there.
Nothing the others said could help. The meeting ended there and his cousin guided him up to the house. He sat at the kitchen table, staring blankly. He didn't seem to notice when Deborah pulled up a chair opposite him and wiped the blood off his face. He didn't really know what was going on when Laurel handed him a glass of apple juice laced with belladonna. It could as easily have been a tequila for Nick. The others moved about the house quietly, like they were walking on eggshells. It didn't take long for the belladonna to work, and Nick was soon fast asleep on the kitchen table. Adam and Doug dragged him into the bedroom and put him in bed.
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