The Aether Witch (The Coven: Elemental Magic Book 6) Read online

  Emersyn stood on the other side of Tegan and twisted her wrists in circles. Flames danced around her hands.

  Tegan lifted her hands out to her sides, her palm facing me. Palm to palm, everyone.

  She watched around the circle as everyone followed her instructions. Her skin was warm and soft against mine, and it took everything inside me not to lace our fingers. The crack of air between our hands glittered and sparkled. Rainbow mist swirled around her feet and coiled up her legs. Her aura hummed with power. Her energy pulsed through the air in waves. Her magic slammed into my palm then slid up my arm and down the other until I felt it leave me and enter my father beside me.

  “We remove the spell from this hallowed ground, reveal to me what my eyes haven’t found. Invoke thee Stones of strong and sound, for thy Coven calls their magic ‘round.” Tegan closed her eyes, and a gust of salty air swept over my face. “I call upon the elements’ power to unlock the spell this waning hour.”

  I pictured the ocean waves rolling onto the shore and crashing against the sand. “I call upon the sea’s power to unlock the spell this waning hour.”

  “I call upon fire’s power,” Emersyn whispered, though her voice was strong. “To unlock the spell this waning hour.”

  Deacon licked his lips. “I call upon the siren’s power to unlock the spell this waning hour.”

  One by one, The Coven called on the power blessed upon them. The sun and moon, stars and shadows, and everything in between. Magic flowed and soared through the circle. It passed through our hands until it all blended together. My body buzzed. The ground rumbled and vibrated into my legs. Light flashed under our feet. We lifted off the pavement as one, all of our feet hovering in the air. The sun had set, but I still felt the heat from its rays on my face. The moon glistened brighter than I’d ever seen it. Stars littered the sky like twinkling dust.

  I felt my Coven-mates’ fear shift into curiosity and confusion. A gentile peace settled into my bones. I heard the whispers of animals nearby and the dragons discussing their concerns. My hands warmed. All around the circle, little flames danced on our fingertips, yet it wasn’t uncomfortable. In my peripheral vision, blue light flashed, and when I looked, I found the translucent forms of spirits watching us. Their voices were soft as they called out to us.

  Trees around us swayed. Leaves dropped from their branches and swarmed the circle. I felt the tickle of each one whipping around us. A wave of raw, ancient magic rolled out of Tegan. Wild, electric energy slammed into my hand touching hers. I glanced over, and her eyes shined bright white like spotlights—like Gabriel’s. She mumbled incantations in the ancient language, but my senses were on overload and my brain couldn’t process it.

  We rose in the air higher and higher until I could see the tops of roofs surrounding us. I looked down at the air between our feet and the pavement, and my heart fluttered. The five Elemental Stones sparkled like Christmas lights down below. Thick white smoke billowed out of the pavement in solid, straight lines that connected each point of the pentagram.

  “I see thy spell cloaked from sight, I call it down this fated night. With chill of Water and heat of Fire, Thy magic seal is no longer dire.” Tegan threw her head back and chanted toward the moon. “Where strength of Earth meets grace of Air, Reveal and revoke thy magic’s snare. Hear me now in my power’s call, we’ll bend the bond between them all.”

  The air inside the circle turned thick like fog. A cold breeze wrapped around my feet then yanked me down. My boots slammed into the asphalt. I looked up at the fog hovering over us like a cloud. It shimmered then fell to the ground like fresh falling snow.

  When it cleared, my jaw dropped and my heart sank. My pulse quickened. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck, and my palms grew sweaty. Oh my Goddess. Just above the pentagram still billowing with smoke, the air looked like shattered glass that someone tried to tape back together.

  The Gap.

  Tegan gasped and stood straight. She narrowed her eyes and looked around. We’re not alone, she warned us silently.

  I opened my mouth to ask when I saw it. The soft blueish glowing orbs in the center of the pentagram. Paulina cursed then stuttered on her words. Everyone else frowned and glanced back and forth between Tegan and Paulina. I knew how they felt. We were missing something.

  The two orbs floated right toward Tegan and Emersyn. They grew longer and wider with every inch until they were roughly the same size as the twins. As I watched with my heart in my throat and my nerves choking me, the orbs sharpened and took form. In the blink of an eye, the glowing orbs morphed into two translucent spirits. They stood in front of Tegan, watching her with wide eyes that seemed to see too much for the deceased. I couldn’t tell what color their eyes were, or the shade of their hair, but the long-sleeved dresses buttoned all the way up to the neck and dragged on the ground told me all I needed to know.

  “Althea and Aurelia,” Tegan breathed and stepped forward. “You’re—you’re here.”

  The one directly in front of Tegan inclined her head. Her eyes were way too sharp. “To finish what we started.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  TEGAN

  “To finish what you started?” Easton scoffed and shook his head. “Yeah, no, lady, we’re not letting you open that Gap.”

  Althea arched one eyebrow. “You know not what you speak, child.”

  I couldn’t have said how I knew which twin was which—it was just a gut feeling. And my gut was telling me the one speaking was Althea. I’d read all her notes in the books, so maybe my magic just sensed her.

  Easton appeared unaffected by her comment and was already nodding. “You wanted to open a Gap to let Greater Demons in and all that.”

  “That is not accurate.” Althea turned her stony gaze back to me. “Though what I wanted is no longer relevant.”

  Aurelia closed her eyes and sighed. “Althea, I told you they would not listen to us. Not after what we’ve done.”

  Ah-ha. I was right.

  “This one will.” Althea stepped closer to me. Her figure may have been translucent, but her eyes were full of power even still. “Won’t you, High Priestess?”

  “I am listening, High Priestess,” I said without hesitation. If I’d had the time, I would’ve spent hours talking to her since there was so much to learn.

  “You have seen my writings in the Book of Shadows. Did it sound like I wanted to let them into our realm?”

  “And give up control?” I smirked and shook my head. “I think not.”

  Truth was…it hadn’t made any sense to me. All of Althea’s notes and plans were dripping with manipulation and devious tricks, but none of them had anything to do with handing over the keys to the castle to the demons. There was no indication of motive for ripping the Gap open. That had been bothering me for a while.

  “A lot of people died because of you,” Cooper grumbled from a few feet away.

  “Including us,” Aurelia whispered. She sighed and hung her head.

  Cooper scoffed and put his hands on his hips. “You expect us to feel bad for you?”

  “I do not care what you feel,” Althea snapped with exactly the amount of venom in her voice I would’ve expected. She glared at him for a brief second then returned her attention to me. “We only need the two of you to hear us.”

  “What do you need us to hear?” Emersyn asked from my left side.

  “The truth,” Aurelia growled and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “They do not have time for that.” Althea shook her head. “If I knew then what I know now… Sometimes spells and plans do not turn out the way we expect, and sometimes that has dire consequences.”

  My heart sank. “The Gap…the deaths.”

  Althea nodded, her face grim. “It all happened so fast. No one was expecting it, and no one was prepared. Not even me. Coven lives were lost too quickly. We do not blame our Coven for the action they took upon us, but in our final breaths, we bound ourselves to this Gap.”

  Emersyn gas
ped. “What? Why?”

  “To right the wrong we wrought,” Aurelia whispered. “We cannot rest with peace until the Gap is closed.”

  My eyebrows rose. “You’ve been here this whole time?”

  “Watching. Waiting. Guarding.” Althea looked up at the shattered sky above us. “119,287 sunrises and sunsets. If we had been granted a bit more life, we might’ve helped close the Gap for good, but alas, we were not. Instead, all we could do was tie our magic to give their spell enough power to hold the temporary seal.”

  I glanced around at my Coven-mates, and my jaw dropped. They all glared at the two twin spirits in front of me. There wasn’t even an ounce of sympathy in their stares. Was I too new to this world to have built up a resentment toward them…or did I relate to Althea too much? I had pretended to be dark in order to save everyone, and perhaps that wasn’t something others would have done.

  Tennessee tapped his foot and looked up at the skies around us. “Well, they’re about to make that seal permanent.”

  Althea shook her head. “You cannot close it—”

  “See, told you,” Cooper growled.

  “—without opening it first.”

  I gasped. “Wait, what? What are you saying? Althea, talk to me.”

  “The rupture in our dimensional wall is deep and severe.” Althea pointed up at the cracks in the sky. “If you close the opening over this temporary seal, the wound will only fester beneath the surface then blow later…and much, much worse. And then you will never be able to close it again.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “You’re saying…you’re saying that in order to close the Gap permanently, we have to—”

  “Open it.” Althea nodded. “Then close it again. It’s the only way.”

  Chaos erupted within our circle. My Coven-mates screamed and shouted. Light flashed from within the Gap. The air tingled along my skin. Tennessee’s pulse pounded against my chest. I felt each and every one of their concerns like a pinprick on my neck.

  “Tegan, don’t listen to her,” Easton hissed. “She’s trying to trick you!”

  “She is the queen of darkness, Tegan,” Cooper growled. “You were pretending. She’s not.”

  “The darkness in my heart might surprise you,” Althea whispered.

  I bet it looks like mine. Some witches were inherently good. They were pure deep down into their souls. They were innocent and kind. Their hearts were gold. People like Willow, Chutney, Uncle Kessler…and Tennessee. But I knew I wasn’t like that. I’d never been blinded to my own darkness. I knew who I was. I knew what I brought to the table. And I knew how to handle it. I might’ve pulled some tricks, but I would never intentionally hurt someone who didn’t deserve it. Althea was the same way. Her darkness may have led to a selfish search for power, but she never wanted to harm anyone. In fact, it was her notes that had showed me how to protect myself and my Coven from Fairies and demons.

  The stories of the first twin witches ever born dictated that one was dark and one was light. But I wasn’t sure how they could know that was the rule. After all, Emersyn and I were only the second set of twin witches ever born. I knew both my sister and I had a strong connection with darkness, except we also were deep with light. The only difference was I knew how to handle it and Emersyn didn’t. The story also said one of the twins was scorned by a lover, and that was why they opened the Gap. That was why we were forbidden from dating. But I knew better. If Tennessee wronged me, I would hex him for all his days, not destroy the whole world.

  There was more to their story…just like the Witch Trials themselves.

  “You have to trust me, High Priestess.”

  “No, don’t! You can’t trust her!” Cooper yelled.

  I looked over at my twin, and my heart sank. They could’ve been talking about her like that. She was the one who almost summoned a Greater Demon through the Gap a few months back. But she wasn’t evil or dark. I’d even asked Deacon to try and pull some of that out of her so we could use it.

  They could’ve been talking about me like that. After all…I was the one who actually gave in to my darkness for a few weeks and worked with demons. I’d tricked them, taunted them, lied to them. I even stole their magic from them at one point. But I did all of it to protect them. To save them, and the world. I would do just about anything for the people I loved, so much so it scared me sometimes.

  What if Aurelia was just like Emersyn? What if Althea was just like me?

  Except I had over three hundred years of experience and knowledge written out for me. Althea obviously made some bad decisions that hurt a lot of people…but I’d used numerous spells of hers already to save us, or protect us. Even now, over three centuries later, we barely knew anything about the Gap or how it worked. All of the notes left in the two books for me were straight-up guesses. Their scriber had even said so. Cassandra’s notes had all warned me of the choice I’d have to make— Wait.

  A choice.

  We’d all assumed the choice I had to make was whether or not I was going to open the Gap forever or seal it shut permanently. But what if that wasn’t the choice at all? What if the choice was whether or not I trusted Althea enough to take her advice?

  What if this is the choice right now?

  If I trusted Althea and opened the Gap, demons would come rushing in. That was guaranteed. I’d just have to close it again before too many got in or too many people got hurt. But if I didn’t trust Althea and we tried to close the Gap as it stood now, there was a chance it would blow up in our faces later. And no one would be able to stop it then. I had until midnight to close this Gap…but the prophecy never mentioned how many times I could open and close it until then.

  I walked forward until I stood directly under the Gap. It looked like a stained-glass window, the pieces all barely clinging to each other. I glanced over my shoulder and met Tennessee’s stare. His beautiful mismatched eyes were dark and sharp as he watched me. A muscle in his jaw flexed and popped. I squared my shoulders.

  “Tegan, no…” Cooper warned.

  Do you trust me? I whispered into Tennessee’s mind.

  “This isn’t a good idea, Tegan,” Easton all but begged.

  The rest of my Coven-mates all yelled their concerns. They begged me not to. But I tuned them out. There was only one opinion I needed, and I waited for him to give me a sign.

  Tennessee stared at me for a long moment then raised his left hand in the air. His black dagger flew out of his boot and slammed into his palm. He nodded and unsheathed his long sword.

  When I looked back in front of me, I found my twin standing there waiting. She held her chin high, and her eyes were clear and focused. “Let’s end this,” she whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

  And it was exactly what I needed her to say.

  I’d told myself I was done playing these games. I’d told myself I would end this even if I had to burn the whole city to the ground. Despite what happened, I trusted Althea. More importantly, her advice just made sense. I pictured Myrtle’s face in my mind, and heard her voice in how she spoke of spells and the way they worked. My gut told me Althea was right, and my instincts hadn’t led me astray yet.

  Althea appeared on my right, and Aurelia on my left. They held their palms out in front of them, directly between my twin and me.

  Althea looked to me. “Demons will come through. Tell them to be ready.”

  Guys… I said into their minds. Be ready to fight. When I open this, the demons will rain upon us. Give it all you’ve got, no matter what.

  “How do we do this?” Emersyn held her palms out and rested them on top of their translucent blue spirit-hands.

  I put my hands in hers, palms facing up, and scanned through the pages of the books in my mind. At the beginning, Elizabeth had discussed the spell The Coven used to put the temporary seal into place. In her note, she warned me that the spell they’d used to temporarily close it would collapse easily. It was like a spool of yarn—pull one thread and the whole thing would unrav
el.

  I looked up at the mosaic sky above me, and my eyes widened. Butterflies danced around in my stomach. Right at the bottom, there was one white sparkling line that shined brighter than all the others. Emersyn, there. At the bottom. Push all your magic at that one spot.

  She nodded then the air pulsed around her. Ten little flames danced at her fingertips. Smoke coiled around her arms then poured into the sky.

  I clenched my teeth and pushed with my magic. Rainbow mist mixed and swirled around her smoke like a tornado. Together, they slammed into the broken-glass-looking sky.

  Bright white light flashed like an atomic bomb…then the ground exploded under our feet.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  TEGAN

  I flew through the air in a cloud of dirt and chunks of pavement.

  Time seemed to slow around me. Everything blurred into one dark blob. My hair wrapped around my face, robbing me of sight. I threw my arms out and tried to catch myself, but everything was wonky and off-kilter.

  My shoulder slammed into the ground, and pain shot through my entire body. I hissed as I was thrown into the air again. I rolled several times before my magic took control. Every inch of my body screamed in agony. The sides of my arms and legs burned under my jeans and leather jacket. A loud, constant ringing echoed in my ears. I scrambled back to my feet, but the world wobbled and my knees hit the cold, hard street.

  I closed my eyes and focused on the magic and power coursing through my veins. The energy was electric and pulsing. I took a deep breath then opened my eyes—and gasped.

  The glass had shattered. The Gap exploded into a volcanic eruption. Thick gray smoke and ash rained down on the street. A pillar of black shot up into the sky.

  I squinted and took a better look. My pulse skyrocketed. My heart pounded against my ribs. It wasn’t a pillar or darkness—it was demons. Hundreds of thousands of them poured through the opening to our realm like a busted dam. There were so many I couldn’t see where one ended and another began.