Strega (Strega Series) (23 page)

"That's what did this to you?"

"No. It disappeared after it said your name. I came over here as fast as I could to warn you, and when I got here, someone else attacked me. A man, but I couldn't really see his face."

I thought of the
men
that had attacked me. In the parking lot. On the beach.

"The thunder and lightning was so loud and bright, and it was non-stop," he continued. "My skin was burning. I yelled for you and the next thing I knew, you were standing over me. That's when it finally stopped."

The roaring thunder. The blinding light. Just like Gram's house. Just like the beach.

"Jay, what did you want to talk to me about tonight?" Shaun asked, eying me closely. "Did something happen to you, too?"

"No, Shaun, I wanted to break up with you," I said bluntly. His face was still and he didn't say a word until I finished cleaning his wounds.

"It's okay, Jay," he finally said. "I will always be here for you, no matter what."

I was still nervous to tell him what I'd seen, but I knew he would believe me.

"I've seen that creature you described. It came for me once already. I barely got away. And others have come for me too. For the past few days, ever since I was followed home the other night, I feel like I've just been running for my life. I'm seeing bizarre things. Having terrifying dreams..."

As I spoke, he listened intently to every single word.

"I don't want you involved Shaun. I don't want you getting hurt again. My mom and dad, Gram, Mr. Whitmore, they are all dead because of me. I can't put you in danger, too. I need to deal with this on my own."

"There's no way I'm leaving you alone, Jay. If you're in trouble, then I'm going to do everything I can to help you."

Something in his voice, his eyes. He was serious, and strangely, he was not afraid.

"Please, Shaun. You need to leave. You have no idea what we're dealing with."

"The problem is, neither do you." He stood up and reached his hand out to me. "You're coming with me. Let's go. I'm taking you away. We'll head down the coast. Somewhere they can't find you."

"Shaun, I can't just leave. I have to face whatever this is. I can't run from it anymore. I'm not going to let anyone else die."

"Jay, something is after you. It attacked me, it has killed people, and it obviously wants to kill you. You can't do anything to stop it if you're dead. Come with me. We will figure out a way to stop it together."

I'd never seen this side of Shaun before. He was so in control. Calm, despite having no reason to be. He was handling it all so much better than I was, and part of me was relieved that I didn't have to deal with it all alone anymore.

"What if it's still there, on the boat? Or what if it follows us, or finds us wherever we go?"

"It's not on the boat, Jay. I saw it disappear. It was coming for you. It's probably coming here. That's why I rushed over. We have to leave."

"But what about Rena? I can't just leave her here if it's coming!"

"It's coming for you Jay, not her. The best thing you can do to protect her is leave."

I grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled a note to Rena, explaining that I was leaving for a few days but that I'd call her as soon as I got back. I gathered Mom's book, Mr. Whitmore's book, and Gram's journal and stuffed them in my bag. I ran out into the rain with Shaun. I didn't know what I was doing. I was confused. Afraid. I hoped that leaving would at least buy me some time to figure things out.

***

Before we reached the car, something rustled in the bushes by the driveway. As I stared into the darkness, a figure emerged. At first, his strong silhouette faded into the dark landscape of wet asphalt and black sky. But his shape suddenly became clear like a shadow that is out of place. I shrieked and grabbed Shaun's arm, and pulled him back toward the steps.

"That's him!" Shaun yelled. "The guy that attacked me!" He blocked me and shouted, begging me to go back inside. I ignored his demands, refusing to leave him out there alone. I turned to face my attacker, wondering if I would recognize his face from the beach. But he was not coming for me. He was targeting Shaun. And as he emerged from the shadows and onto the front lawn, I realized that I did know his face. It was a beautiful face, and it had burned itself into my mind the very first time I saw it. Hard and rugged, and with determined eyes, Vince closed in on Shaun.

He looked past me and charged toward Shaun with increasing determination. He lifted his hands, ready to strike, and I ran to stop him.

"No, Vince! Wait!" I shouted. But he didn't flinch.

He overpowered Shaun, pinning him to the ground effortlessly, and threw one punch after the other. I jumped on his back and locked my arms around his neck, trying to pull him off Shaun. But he pried my arms away effortlessly, and I fell to the ground. In the struggle, something else fell. I knocked it loose from Vince's belt. Its reflective surface shimmered with soft blue light. There in the green grass was the athame.

Shaun took advantage of Vince's momentary distraction and slid out from beneath him.

"Stay out of this, Jay," Vince growled as I tried to restrain him again. He waved his hand at me and suddenly my body sailed through the air like I'd been picked up by a giant gust of wind. I landed on the opposite end of the yard in Ruth's flowerbed. When he was sure I was out of his way, Vince went for Shaun again.

The power he possessed, what he did to me, horrified me. I remembered the beach, sailing weightless through the sky before crashing in the sand. It was him.

I got up and ran toward Vince again, desperate to protect Shaun. But before I could get to him, he stopped me in my tracks. With his hand held to the sky, he clenched his fist and pulled it down hard. With it, a bolt of fiery blue light came crashing down with a thunderous roar, and it struck Shaun.

"No!" I screamed, running to Shaun as he collapsed to the ground. I was sick. Each time I'd been attacked, when I saw that fiery blue light, it was Vince. His power was incredible, and absolutely horrifying. I pulled Shaun to his feet and dragged him toward the front door, desperate to make it inside before Vince struck him again. When we got to the top step, I was sure Vince was ready to strike. But when I turned back, he was gone.

"Get in the car!" Shaun shouted, urging me toward the street where his car was parked. I grabbed my bag and he took my hand. Despite his injuries, he moved quickly and pulled me along behind him. But he took an unexpected detour across the lawn, and crouched down to grab the athame. It was concealed in the thick grass, impossible to see, and I wondered how he even knew it was there. He said nothing and tucked it into the back of his pants as we ran for the car.

I threw my bag in the back and Shaun stepped on the gas, slicing through the wet streets toward the docks. We sat in silence the whole way, both of us in shock and processing everything that had just happened.

When we got to the marina, Shaun parked the car and reached for my hand.

"Jay, everything is going to be okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

But his words didn't comfort me. I signaled to the athame tucked in the back of his pants.

"Do you know what that is, Shaun?" I still wondered why he went out of his way to grab it. "That is the blade I was telling you about. How did you even know it was there?"

"I saw it fall. I thought we could use it...to defend ourselves."

"That is what's attracting all this craziness. It all started after that thing showed up." I reached my hand out for it. "They're targeting you now, probably because you're protecting me. Please give it to me. I don't want you getting hurt."

"No," he said boldly, turning off the car and getting out quickly before I could protest. "We're in this together. Just wait here. I'll make sure the boat is safe, and then I'll signal to you."

As he ran down the dock, I stared at the handle of the athame against his back, wishing that I could bury it, sink it in the deep ocean waters, run as far away from it as possible. But I'd spent my whole life running. I never stopped. And now I was running harder than ever before. I was exhausted, but unable to rest. And I was getting nowhere. The darkness I'd always tried to escape surrounded me. And for the first time, I wanted to stop running from it. I wanted to stand still and face it. Whatever it was, it had already taken so much from me. I was not going to let it take another life. I didn't know how, but I had to stop it.

The sea was cold and black, and the stormy water rocked the boat. I kept my eyes on the dock, waiting for Shaun to emerge. I couldn't leave with him. I couldn't keep running. No matter where I went, they would find me. When I told him how I felt, it was going to be a fight.

Suddenly Shaun appeared and tore across the dock, waving his arms and shouting to me.

"Go! Jay! Get out of here!"

I flung the passenger door open for him and jumped into the driver's seat. Whatever he was running from, there was no way I was leaving him to deal with it alone. I turned the key and buckled my seatbelt, ready to take off as soon as he got in. But before he made it off the dock, an increasingly familiar fiery blue light tore across the sky. The bolt struck Shaun and he fell to his knees.

"Shaun!" I jumped out of the car and ran to him. His shaky voice still demanded that I go on without him. Vince stood behind him. When he saw me coming, he waved his hand at me again and my body flew through the air. As I landed in the moist grass and struggled to get back on my feet, Vince brought down one fiery blue bolt after the other. Shaun screamed in agony as each one hit him.

"STOP!" I yelled. Shaun's eyes filled with sadness as he reached for me.

"Jay! Please just go."

He was weak. By the time I got to him, he lay on the ground, motionless. Black scorch marks covered his body.

"Oh, Shaun, I am so sorry," I cried, pulling his lifeless body off the wet pavement and into my lap. He looked at me with desperation, and I watched the light fade from his eyes. He was dead. One more person was dead because of me, and I didn't know how to stop it. My body curled over his and I cried as the rain poured down on me.

I was alone. And I was responsible for all the death that filled my life. Grief and pain was all I knew, and it crashed inside me like the thunderous clouds above. Shaun's limp body slipped from my arms as white-hot rage lifted me to my feet. A tormented howl escaped my lips and seemed to send the tides back, carrying my fury thousands of miles to the darkest, most desolate waters, where it would surely burn for an eternity.

I fixed my eyes on Vince. He turned away with no remorse and disappeared into the shadows.

"WHY!" I shouted, following him into the darkness. But he didn't stop. He didn't say a word. He continued to navigate the wet streets past the unwavering architecture with long, unhurried strides. He was completely indifferent. As the rain pelted my face and drenched my clothes, I finally closed in on him and unleashed my rage.

"You son of a bitch!" I screeched, jumping up and throwing my arms around his neck. I kicked so hard that his legs faltered and he stumbled. I pushed him to the ground and sat on his back, pinning his body facedown against the pavement with all my weight. He could have easily pushed me off. But he didn't.

"Why the hell are you doing this to me?" I screamed into his ear. The painful pitch made him wince, and in one quick motion he spun around beneath me and grabbed onto my waist. He pushed me down and hovered over me on his knees, pinning me beneath his solid body. I pushed back with all my might, but I couldn't penetrate his strength. He completely overpowered me. He held my wrists and I couldn't move, but I was too pissed to be scared.

"What the hell do you want?" I pushed through gritted teeth and tears. His face hovered so close to mine that I was forced to stare into his eyes. I hated my feelings for him. Even now, after I watched him kill Shaun, my irrepressible desire fought to the surface. With his warm body against mine, his thighs trapping me beneath him, his breath pounding against my lips, I could not stop the rush.
I hate him so much.

His eyes were severe, like a dark raging storm. His expression, intense like an impervious wall holding back an ocean of mystery. But as he stared back at me, his face softened. Even the color of his eyes seemed to change, from dark and fierce to the warm, lucent amber I knew. Words were behind his lips, I felt it. He was about to let something burst forth. But then his grasp loosened.

He stood up, and then just turned and walked away. Of all the things he could have done to me, this was by far the worst. I jumped to my feet and demanded an answer, a word, anything. But he kept walking, completely ignoring me. I charged toward him again, shaking with rage, desperate for him to talk to me. He owed me this. Bailing without a word had become a habit for him, and I was going to help him break it.

When I got close, I reached for his shoulders to take him down again, but he spun around and grabbed my hands. He held them tightly and leaned in close, inches away from my face again, and finally he spoke.

"You don't want to hurt me, Jay. You are in serious danger. Go home. Please."

The intensity raging inside me suddenly snapped like a branch in a storm. My wrists went limp. His hands slipped away and he disappeared again into the shadows. I stood there alone in the misting rain, struggling to breathe as if somebody had just stolen all the air.