It was time for us to investigate Sybil’s laboratory and delve into the tunnels beneath the house. We needed to prepare ourselves, and since no records of those tunnels existed in the original building plans for the coven house, we needed to search elsewhere.
That meant going back to Abelaum, to the university’s library. There, we would hopefully find the old Leighman Mining Company maps and possibly figure out how these tunnels connected to the larger mine, if they connected at all.
But first, Callum had another lesson to teach me, one he deemed absolutely necessary before we ventured out of the safety of the coven house.
We met in the meditation room at noon. The demon had told me to dress warmly but comfortably, and be prepared for a little rain. “A little” was a bit of an understatement, as the sky had been pouring all day and night. But the meditation room was sheltered and dry, so I wondered why it was a concern.
“If you can master teleportation, you can master any magic,” Callum said, pacing in front of me after I’d stretched and relaxed for a while. “It is one of the most complex and difficult abilities to learn, for demons as much as witches. It requires entirely disassembling and reassembling your physical form, while maintaining your concentration over the distance you need to travel.”
Nodding, I tried to put myself back in the mindset of a student at the university. Losing myself in ancient languages, enthralled by the wisdom of my teacher…
I was enthralled by much more than his wisdom, but I didn’t have time to get distracted, as he frequently reminded me.
“To start, you’ll want to be in tune with your body,” Callum said. “As you practice and grow more comfortable, it will be as easy as walking.” To demonstrate, he took a step toward me, but that single step carried him the entire distance of the room, and I jumped to find him standing right in front of me. He grinned and did it again, teleporting around me, each step another jump through space until he stood in front of me again.
“Your turn,” he said. “Focus on your limbs, starting with the tips of your toes and your fingers. Let your muscles soften. Imagine your physical body as mere particles, vibrating together, magnetized to each other. But they can be pushed, pulled, manipulated. They can flow like sand.”
Closing my eyes to concentrate, I imagined my limbs drifting into the air, fragmenting away like cherry blossoms in spring. I imagined the ground vanishing from beneath my feet, my body floating, weightless and free as the wind…
“Very good.”
There was a split-second sensation, as if my body was being sucked through a straw. Then my eyes flew open, and I was stumbling forward, pulled toward the earth by the heaviness of gravity —
Callum’s arms braced around me, keeping me upright. Lying against his chest, blinking my eyes rapidly, I tried not to lose myself in the way he was looking at me.
Like he was excited. Like he was proud.
“You’ll try teleporting a distance this time.”
He stepped back, leaving me swaying slightly on my feet as he strode about ten paces away before turning to face me again.
“Again. Except this time, come to me. Maintain your concentration on where I’m standing. You must envision it with as much clarity and intention as you can muster.”
Giving my limbs a good shake, I closed my eyes again. But I held the image of Callum in my mind: how the stones intersected beneath his feet, how the light angled across his chest, and the tapestries framed his face.
Then I was light again; a little breathless, a little dizzy. The sensation made me want to giggle, but then my stomach dropped, my feet thumped to the stones, and once more, Callum’s arms wrapped around me, preventing me from falling face-first to the floor.
He was smiling slightly, the expression small enough I wondered if he was trying to hide it.
“Excellent work.”
My heart buzzed with pride. Flustered now, my next few attempts weren’t as successful, although I did manage to teleport entirely across the room and slam my head against the wall in the process.
“Mm, once again, you are very easily distracted,” Callum said, snapping his fingers as he paced, and I rubbed my sore forehead. “Try again. Fail this time, and you’ll be in for worse consequences than a little bump on the head.”
He looked as serious as ever, but I could see the mischief in his eyes.
“Consequences?” I said. “What do you mean by that?”
He curled a clawed finger at me. “Come to me, Everly. Try again.”
In the blink of an eye, I crossed the room. The air rushed out of my lungs, my head prickled with chills. But I didn’t stumble. I didn’t fall. I stood mere inches away from him, gazing up into his face with a victorious smirk.
“The threat of consequences is helpful for you, eh?” He snapped his fingers again and vanished, reappearing on the opposite side of the room from me. “Again, Everly.”
Again and again, I teleported after him. Every time I stumbled, or misplaced my feet, or flew too far, he would count.
“That’s three. Four. Going to make five, then, are we? Six.”
“What the hell are you counting?” I finally blurted. A slow, wicked smile spread over his face.
“I’m counting how many swats you’re going to get over my knee when you’re done,” he said, and my mouth dropped open.
“You…you think you’re going to spank me?” He simply waited, staring at me. “And what makes you think I’m going to let you?”
“You’ve practically fallen over my knee several times already,” he said. “I think it’s the logical progression for your sloppy attempts.”
“Sloppy?” I gasped and teleported toward him again. While I would have loved to do so flawlessly, I overstepped my intentions once again and wound up behind him.
He gave me a stinging slap on the ass before he darted away from me, teleporting to the opposite side of the room. I was pursuing him determinedly now, stumbling frequently, but at least I was keeping up. Every time I lost my balance, moved too far or too little, he’d give me another swat. They were playful slaps, teasing me into such a state that I was puffing in exasperation as I chased him.
“I didn’t even stumble that time!” I yelped, stomping my foot after another swat. Callum was across the room, squatting on the balls of his feet as he laughed at me.
Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Your ass bounces when I smack it. How am I supposed to resist playing with it?”
Quickly blowing a loose strand of hair out of my eyes, I teleported to him again. Somehow, he caught me in midair. I swore our bodies were melting together. Heat and skin, flesh and blood.
Callum held me close, arms tight around me. Face to face.
“Is this how you trained your warriors?” I whispered.
“Exactly the same,” he said, his expression carefully controlled. “Except I used a whip instead of my hand.” I giggled, then laughed harder at the mock offense on his face. “Oh, do you think it’s funny? Won’t be so funny when your ass is red, eh?”
He tossed me over his shoulder, allowing me to dangle there as he smacked my backside repeatedly. I squirmed, kicking my legs and squealing. It was impossible to wiggle out from his hold.
But it wasn’t impossible to teleport.
I vanished from his arms and reappeared on the far side of the room. Breathing heavily, I pushed my loose hair out of my face and stuck my tongue out at him as he widened his eyes in surprise.
“Well, well. A fast learner, aren’t you?” he said. “All right. We’ll try something harder. The great tree inside the greenhouse.” He vanished before I could say a word, and I closed my eyes in concentration.
The greenhouse. The great tree with its scarred bark and massive roots, limbs curving along the crystalline interior of the glass dome. I could see Callum standing before it, birds flitting by his head as bees buzzed through the air, and I caught my breath for a moment.
When I inhaled again, the scent of flowers, greenery, and damp dirt rushed in my nose.
“I did it!” I practically shrieked as I jumped up and down, pumping my fist in the air. “Hell yes! I can’t believe it…I can’t…”
I paused when I noticed the way Callum was watching me.
He kissed me. A slow, deep, lingering kiss. And when he pulled away, the hand that had gently touched my cheek moved to grip my chin.
“Don’t you dare doubt yourself again,” he said. “Or I’ll start using the whip.” I smiled at that, and he shook his head. “Insatiable, aren’t you? I give you a little taste of wickedness and suddenly you can’t get enough.”
“You gave me a taste of what I deserve,” I said, and his dark eyes brightened like a solar eclipse. “And now I want more.”
The branches rustled above us, and Callum snarled, “Stop fucking watching, you perverted tree!”
“Now that’s not very nice!” Darragh whined, his voice emanating from somewhere within the branches. “Don’t mind me, just go on with whatever you were doing.”
“Bedroom,” Callum whispered, before he teleported again. After taking a moment to focus myself, I followed, teleporting myself to my bedroom. I flopped down on top of the bed, which wasn’t exactly where I’d intended to appear, but close enough.
It made my desires obvious at least.
“I can’t reward you quite yet,” my demon said, standing at the foot of the bed. He held up my bag in one hand. “You’ll need this. Your next teleportation will take you outside the house.”
I took the bag, slinging the strap over my shoulder. Scrambling off the bed, I took my position in front of him, continually readjusting my bag because my nervous hands couldn’t stay still.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “You need to be confident you can get back to the house without me, if necessary, and teleportation is the safest way to do so. Try teleporting to Abelaum and back again. But remember, you must have a very specific location in mind. You must picture it vividly, with as much detail as you can. Both getting there and getting back.”
“To Abelaum? Oh…okay.”
The places I knew most vividly in Abelaum were not places I wanted to risk randomly showing up in. But then, I thought of the perfect place. My favorite coffee shop; a quiet cafe tucked away down a narrow street, the brick facade coated thickly with vines. The front door had a bell that jingled when you opened it, and when you walked past you could smell the pastries baking, rich butter and yeasty bread, hot coffee and sweet cream…
Something wet hit my face, and suddenly, I was standing in a downpour.
Hurriedly pulling up the hood of my jacket and tucking back my hair, I stepped out of the shadows of the alleyway into which I’d teleported. People hurried by on the sidewalk, rushing to get indoors and out of the rain.
I peered through the windows into the coffee shop’s cafe. Baristas bustled back and forth behind the counter, and patrons sat at tables reading and playing board games as they sipped their drinks.
But then, there at the table just inside the window, I saw them.
Victoria and Raelynn. Together. Sipping coffee, chatting with big smiles on their faces.
My heart nearly stopped. My first instinct was to flee, to immediately teleport back to Callum. But I knew what this was. I knew exactly what Victoria was doing, because I’d seen her do it before.
I’d watched her call Juniper her best friend. Watched her play the long game as they grew closer and Juniper’s trust ran deeper.
Only to stab her in the back in the end.
She was going to do to Raelynn exactly what she’d done to Juniper.
The wind whipped rain into my face, catching my hair and pulling it from the safety of my hood. Lifting my head so I could hurriedly tuck my hair away again, my eyes met with the woman sitting at a corner table, behind Victoria.
My palms went cold and clammy.
My stomach lurched, terror bursting through every inch of me as adrenaline pumped from my frantic heart.
The woman in the corner, staring at me as if she wanted me to drop dead, was Juniper.
Juniper, who’d looked at me with such desperation as an ambulance took her away. Juniper, who’d screamed the truth only for no one to listen. Who’d seen my mother’s wickedness. Who’d witnessed my cowardice.
Who’d been thrown down to God and lived.
She rose slowly from her chair, her eyes locked on me with vicious intensity, and I turned and sprinted.
Dodging down the rainy sidewalk, I was certain I heard the cafe’s bell jingle as the door was shoved open. Shit, shit, shit! I didn’t dare stop, my mind too addled with surprise and fear to concentrate on teleporting. I turned down every street — right, left, left, right, left — constantly glancing over my shoulder.
But with every turn, Juniper was behind me. Moving quickly and easily through the crowd, hood up, eyes locked upon me.
The look on her face was murderous. She wasn’t a frightened teenage girl anymore. This was a woman who’d looked death in the face and wasn’t afraid to do it again.
With every fiber of my being, I knew with absolute certainty she wanted to kill me.
But after another quick turn, I was facing a dead end. A narrow alleyway was before me, wedged between three buildings. The fire escapes were out of my reach, there was nothing I could hide behind. With my back to a brick wall, I faced the mouth of the alley…
And willed myself to disappear.
I imagined myself vanishing into the brick, my body clear as glass, my breathing utterly silent. A cold feeling settled over me, but I refused to let it shake me. I held my concentration as Juniper appeared at the mouth of the alley.
She paused, and although I felt like she was staring right at me, her brow furrowed with confusion. She approached slowly, looking around with every step. She kept coming closer…closer. Beneath her jacket, I could see the handle of a knife holstered on her belt.
Why the hell had she come back to Abelaum? She had left years ago. She knew the true danger that lurked here. Yet she’d returned…
But of course. Her brother. Marcus.
They’d killed him, and it summoned her like an angel of vengeance.
She stopped just a few feet away from me. Her frown deepened, and she reached out, muttering softly, “No fucking way…”
My magic shattered, and her eyes widened in shock as I reappeared. I shoved her back, magic pummeling her chest like a cudgel so I could run, but her hand snapped out, grabbing the strap of my bag. She was so strong, her teeth bared with the effort to drag me back toward her.
I tugged with all my might, ripping open my bag and sending my possessions tumbling to the rain-soaked ground. It gave me the seconds I needed to get away. I fled out of the alley, dodging into the first sheltered doorway I spotted.
“Back to the house,” I whispered desperately. “The house, the house. Back to Callum. Please.”
I wasn’t proud of myself for literally begging my magic to work — but it did, and the next thing I knew, I was stumbling into the foyer of the coven house.
“Callum!” No sooner was his name out of my mouth than he appeared before me, clutching me with concern. The radio was in the kitchen, and my grandmother called out, “What on Earth is happening out there? Everly! Come, speak to me at once!”
In true grandmotherly fashion, Grams wouldn’t let me explain until my rain-soaked body was wrapped in a blanket, seated in front of the kitchen’s hearth with a hot cup of tea in my hands. At least by the time I was comfortably warm, I could manage to get the story out without the words shaking too much.
“A woman out for vengeance is a very dangerous thing,” Grams said. “And you’ve had visions of her accompanied by a demon…that makes her even more of a threat.”
“It doesn’t matter who accompanies this woman,” Callum said. He was leaning against the counter, arms folded, wings rigidly tense. “Anyone who attempts to harm my witch will not live. We will be rid of this problem by tonight. It will not take me long to find her —”
“No!” Callum stared at me. “Don’t go after her. She won’t harm me, she —”
“You said she pursued you viciously.” Callum pushed away from the counter, stalking closer to me. “She is a threat to you. Why ignore a threat when I can dispose of it?”
“She doesn’t know where I am.” Memories of that night in St. Thaddeus, when Juniper was cut and marked for the God, kept replaying in mind. The screams…fuck, those horrible screams… “She’s not a threat to me right now. Not here. She has no reason to come after me.”
“Vengeance is a powerful drive,” Callum said slowly. He was displeased, and the air around him shimmered with furious power. “Do not allow guilt to cloud your thinking.”
Holding his gaze, I said with as much fierceness as I could, “Do not go after her. Leave her alone. She’s been through enough.”
His fingers twitched. He looked away from me, jaw clenched.
Then, softly, he said, “As you command.”
