Conflicted: Keegan's Chronicles (18 page)

“Tonight, we pick up girls.” Tommy slapped
Rourk on the back.

“Sure, Tommy. We saw how good that went last
time.”

Tommy looked down at his bandaged feet.
“Let’s just grab something to eat and get some sleep. At least we
get a couple of weeks of downtime to let our feet heal.”

Thaddeus took a sip of his hot chocolate and
looked around the coffee shop before sending Anna a text.
Sorry I’ve been
busy. Can you get away today?

Her response was immediate, making him roll
his eyes. Keegan and her friends were surgically attached to their
phones.
Of course.
Where do you want to meet?

Pick me up at the Starbucks near Target.

Now?

In about twenty minutes.

Ok.

Thaddeus grinned. Anna was right, this cloak
and dagger stuff was pretty fun.

Anna pulled up out front in her old, beat-up
car and Thaddeus chugged the last of his hot chocolate as he walked
out the door. He tossed it in the trash can out in front of the
store.

It was a cool, sunny day with the kind of
warm breeze that heralded spring. Thaddeus was glad it was finally
April. Cold weather sucked.

“So where are we going?” Anna looked over at
Thaddeus, both of her hands wrapped around the wheel.

Thaddeus eyed her bright blue highlights
warily. She was such a weird chick. “To the vault.”

“The vault. It sounds so mysterious.” She
put the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. “Thanks, for
letting me in on this, Thad.”

“No problem.” He didn’t want to tell her she
was his only option. That might hurt her feelings. He pointed for
her to take a left.

“So do you think this will work?”

“I hope so. But as I’m sure you know, there
are no guarantees with magic. At least we can say we tried.”

“I have to admit. I feel slightly bad for
Donald. He’s innocent in all of this.”

“He’ll be ok.” Thaddeus shrugged.

“How do you know he’ll be ok? Did you have a
vision?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re not going to tell me what it was are
you?”

“Nope.”

“I wouldn’t want your gift, Thaddeus,” Anna
answered in a quiet voice, shooting a glance over at him.

“No, you wouldn’t. It’s not as cool as
people think.”

“Speaking of cool. I think it’s pretty
awesome you are helping out your sister.”

Thaddeus cleared his throat and shifted
uncomfortably. “I’m helping Rourk.”

“Same thing.”

Giving her one of his impish smiles, he
said, “Anna, I’m going to have to wipe your memory once we get
back. You’re not supposed to know where the vault is.”

“You can trust me. I would never tell
anyone.”

“I’m sorry, Anna, you have to agree to that
or we can’t go any further.”

“Fine. But just take away the directions
nothing else. I like my memories.” She paused. “Most of them
anyway.” She stole a sideways glance at him, her eyes narrowed.
“Can you make my crush on Xavier go away?”

“You wouldn’t want that, Anna.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I don’t suppose
you can tell me the formula to my prefect match could you?”

“Hmm, that is certainly against the rules,”
Thaddeus murmured, rubbing his chin in his best evil genius
impression. He grinned. “If this plan works, I’ll look into
it.”

“Ack! Are you serious? I was just joking.
You could really do that?”

“Sure, it’s not that hard.”

“I wonder what he looks like, my
soulmate?”

“Anna, focus. You are going to turn right up
ahead. Drive ten miles and take a left on to a hidden driveway. We
are going to have to walk about 3 miles in the woods.” He leaned
over, looking down at her feet on the pedals and nodded. “I’m glad
you wore comfortable shoes.”

Once they arrived, Thaddeus had her park the
car just off the driveway and they started through the woods. “You
didn’t say it was going to be three miles uphill, and it’s
freezing.”

“It’s not all uphill and it’s definitely not
freezing. It’s almost sixty degrees. You sound like Keegan.”

“Fine. Okay, so how is this going to
work?”

“Well, you are going to read the Book of
Shadows. Find a dream spell, and an enchantment spell. I’ll
memorize them and write them down once we get back to the coffee
shop.”

“You can do that?”

“Of course, I have a photographic
memory.”

“How could I forget? The Great
Thaddeus.”

“That’s me.” He came to an abrupt halt, one
arm swinging out to stop Anna. “Ok, we’re here.”

“What do you mean we’re here? There is
nothing but woods.”

Thaddeus just grinned. “Anna, take my hands
and close your eyes.”

Anna did as he said. Suddenly, she felt like
the floor had dropped from under her and her stomach flipped. As
quickly as it started, it was over.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Anna did, and looked around the room in awe.
“This is beautiful. Hey, I thought you were supposed to cloak me or
something like that?”

“This was easier. No one will know you are
here and we’ll just teleport out.”

“So this is the famous vault?” Anna walked
forward, Thaddeus at her back as she gazed around the room, taking
in as many details as she could.

The walls were a shimmering gold color and
home to intricately carved wooden bookcases that held what, by
sight, seemed to be thousands upon thousands of books. In the
center of the room under high ceilings, several heavy wood tables
were spread, some of them already holding opened books beneath
softly lit lamps. The vault had the dim, comforting feeling of
being underground, and it literally hummed with an energy that
tickled Anna’s skin.

“Somehow I doubt it’s famous. But yes, this
is the vault. Pretty cool, huh?”

“I’d say.” Anna ran her hands along the
jewels that were imbedded in the gold walls. There was a variety of
colors, catching the lights from the tables so that they sparkled
as she moved past them. They looked like a treasure.

“Okay, let’s get started.” Thaddeus moved to
the center of the room and closed his eyes, his hands hanging
loosely at his sides.

Anna had a moment where she thought she
could see the man he would become one day. She always forgot he was
only twelve because he was so much more mature due to his gifts.
For just a moment, she saw past the twelve year old and to the
person he would be. It was an odd sensation. She’d known him since
he was little; the idea of him growing up had never occurred to
her.

Opening his eyes, Thaddeus walked to a
bookshelf in the left corner and grabbed purposefully for a leather
bound book. It was the Book of Shadows.

“How did you do that? Magic?”

“Some would say it’s magic, but I just used
my photographic memory. So we didn’t have to waste a lot of time
trying to find the book.”

“You are pretty cool, Thad.”

“And you are weird.” He handed her the thick
black book.

“Thaddeus, it’s charged with energy. It
completely surrounds it.”

“I would hope so.” He grinned. “It was
someone’s magic book at one time.”

Staring down at the book between her hands,
Anna slowly shook her head. “I can’t believe I am touching a real
Book of Shadows. One from another witch. I have dreamed of this
moment for a very long time. I’m afraid to open it.”

Thaddeus reached over and opened the book,
putting it on the table in front of them. “There. Now find the
passages we need.”

Anna rolled her eyes at him for ruining her
moment, then closed them and placed both hands on the book.
Thaddeus paced around her, his lips pursed as he waited.

“Page 333,” Anna said excitedly after a few
minutes. “The numbers 333 keep playing over in my head.”

“Well, check it out.”

Anna flipped ahead in the book, careful not
to harm the aged, yellowed pages. “Oh my goddess, Thaddeus. It is
page 333. How cool is that? The enchantment spell.” A note of
reverence was in her voice. “Thaddeus, we could do so many things
with this one spell.”

“Anna, don’t even think about it. We are
here for one reason and one reason only. Do not make me regret
bringing you here. You would not like the consequences.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. Magic is just so
powerful. Okay, so here is the spell. Do you want me to say it
aloud or do you need to read it to memorize it?”

“I’ll read it.” He scanned the page quickly.
“Ok, now we need to find the dream spell.”

Once again, Anna closed her eyes and placed
her hands lightly on the book. “I’m not getting it, Thad.”

“Try again and relax your mind.”

Anna thought about the way her mind cleared
when she sat and watched the sunrise or sunset. Since Magdalena had
asked her to do the seven day exercises, Anna had tried to keep up
with doing it at least once a week. She found that same peace and
stillness inside her, then her eyes popped open. “Page 213.
Incredible.”

“Hurry up, we can’t stay in here too long.”
Thaddeus tapped his fingers on the long wooden table.

“Ok, here it is, 213. I can’t wait to try
these out.”

“Well, if everything goes as planned you can
start the dream spell tonight.”

Anna jumped up and down.

“What is it with you guys and always jumping
around like fools? You’re not three years old.”

“Did you memorize it? That’s it, Thaddeus,
I’m hugging you and you can’t get out of it.” She slipped her arms
under his and picked him up, spinning him around the room. He was a
lot heavier than she expected.

“Put me down,” Thaddeus growled.

“Fine. Can you show me the rest of the
vault?”

“No. Close your eyes and grab my hands.”

Anna had that same feeling as if she was
dropping from the sky. When she opened her eyes they were back in
her car. “Hey! Why did we have to hike that hill if we could have
teleported from the car?”

He grinned. “I missed my workout this
morning.”

“Ugh. Thanks a lot. My legs are already
sore.” She smacked him on his shoulder.

“Ok, give me a piece of paper.”

Anna grabbed her notebook and handed it to
him. He started writing so fast Anna couldn’t keep up.

“Ok, here are the spells. I’m not a witch so
I don’t know everything you are supposed to do. Do you have an
altar?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, well I’ll just give you the spell and
you get a hold of the things you need. If you need any help finding
something, send me a text. Don’t forget no one is allowed to know
we are doing this. Not even your mom.”

“I know, you can trust me. Keegan is my best
friend.”

Anna glanced sideways at him. "So are you
going to erase my memory now?"

Thaddeus chuckled. "You are so gullible. I
was just messing with you. You couldn't find your way back there if
you tried.

Anna emerged from her bath and blew out the
candles. The scent of rosemary, lavender, basil, and mint filled
the air. She inhaled deeply, taking in the relaxation of the room.
Walking slowly to her altar, she lifted the quartz crystal pendent
from where it lay across her wooden pentacle and clasped it around
her neck. She reached for her white robe, pulling it on while
trying to remain calm and not let her excitement take over.

Her hands were shaking as she grabbed the
loose earth she had collected from outside and poured it into her
antique crystal bowl. She lightly placed the bowl down so it was
facing north, the place of power. She paused, kneeling before the
small bowl, dipping the fingers of her power hand into the earth.
Magadalena had taught her to take just a moment to attune herself
with each element by reflecting on how it had touched her life
recently. Earth was stability and knowledge, just as Magdalena had
become Anna’s stability and an endless source of magical
knowledge.

Lifting the censor and a small cone of
incense, she placed them to the east, letting the cone rest atop
the pile of sand in the censor. She lit a match and the smell of
sandalwood filled the room. Inhaling deeply, she let it fill her
senses, thinking of the warm winds of spring slowly blowing in as
winter faded.

Taking the silver candle from her altar, she
lit the wick and placed it to the south next to a moonstone. She
kneeled before it, staring into the flame. She thought of how fire
was strong and determined, as she was determined to bring Keegan’s
bond back.

Anna picked up the last element—her small
brass cup that was filled with water. Carefully, she carried it and
placed it in the western quarter. She swirled a single finger in
the liquid, watching the water ripple. Water was an emotional
element. It made her think of love.

Seating herself in the center of the circle,
Anna lit a single purple pillar candle on the floor in front of
her. She lifted both of her arms to the ceiling and closed her
eyes, her voice flowing smoothly into the dimness of her room.

God and Goddess I ask of thee

Give me the ability to send forth this dream

Across the Earth or water’s bound

Whether he be in the sky or on the ground

By the powers of fire let it shine bright

By the powers of the earth and air send it
tonight

By the powers of water to sweep within the dream’s
door

And by the powers of 3 shall Rourk remember it
evermore.

Anna kept her eyes closed, focusing on the
images she wanted to place in Rourk’s mind.

***

Rourk sat on his bed and stared at the ring. The
ruby and diamonds sparkled in the light as he twirled it around his
finger. His mother whispered in his ear, “It belongs to Keegan
now.”

Rourk shot out of bed, his breathing ragged
as he swiped his hand across the sweat on his forehead.
It was only a
dream
.