Two Halves Series (63 page)

She paused. “I can do what I want with you. And I want Aseret to see the power I’ll gain. Your essence will be the most valuable yet, half-breed.” Miranda’s howl echoed through the lair as her ghost disappeared into the wall.

My invisible heart pounding, I rushed to my mother’s side. “Are you all right?”

She slowly shook her head. Her weakened soul was almost transparent. “Sarah, you shouldn’t be here. She’ll drain your essence.” I had to lean close to hear her faint voice.

“It’s okay, Mom.” The light ropes that held her soul left creases in her ephemeral being; if it were flesh, blood would be dripping from the wounds. I pointed to the glowing twines. “Do you know how to get these off?”

“It’s a spell from the book. You need to read it.”

I rushed to the table on which the magic book rested and peered at the open pages, but the letters unintelligible to me, meaningless markings and symbols. “I can’t understand this. I’m not a witch.”

“Channel Xela. She has your body. You’re still connected to her.”

I can’t do this,
I thought, feeling overwhelmed. The fire in the pit disagreed as it flared, the flames that never needed more wood to burn encouraging me with flickering oranges and reds. My focus on the foreign words intensified, and I thought about Xela and what she’d do. Aseret’s accent as he spoke in an ancient tongue came to my mind. I imagined Xela chanting, like a witch. Waves of new energy rippled through me. The letters began unscrambling, and I heard Xela’s voice in my head, except it was my voice. With Xela’s magic linked through me, the words made sense.

“Asuma murani beco malima. Kera ma sukler miserio uff,” I chanted, the spell escaping my mouth on streaming ribbons of light. The change flowed toward my mother’s wrists and singed the ropes holding her arms and ankles. The connection of spell with magical knots erupted in sparkles of light before bands of sulphurous smoke curled upward.

Freed from her bonds, my mother dropped to her knees.

“Come on.” I put my hands under her arms and lifted her. “We need to leave before Aseret comes back.”

“I cannot become invisible. They’ll see us. She took too much away from me.”

“You don’t need to. We’re going straight up.” I nodded toward the ceiling, both of my hands still supporting the light weight of her spirit.

“How? You can’t pass through walls. She cursed you.”

I shook my head. “No, the curse is off. Miranda unknowingly reversed her magic. Can you hold on for a moment?” Gently, I lowered her to sit on the floor, her head against the wall, and floated to the table holding Miranda’s book of spells.

My plan was already working; I was able to pick up the book and stash it behind a cluster of roots on the ceiling. It fit perfectly in the nook.
Try to do magic now, witch.

“Is William really gone?”

I froze, then nodded, struggling not to lose my composure. Assuming a brisk demeanor, I went over and helped her up.

“I’m so sorry, honey.” My mother squeezed me, and my body switched to full ghost mode. The embrace rejuvenated me just enough to carry through my plans to destroy Aseret, the witch, and their seekers.

“Let’s go.” I took her hand, and we flew beyond the ceiling of the cave. As we passed through the solid rock, then compacted soil, I thought about Eric, Xander, and Mira, hoping to be taken to my watchers.

The time had come to give the witch exactly what she deserved. It was time to get my body back and bind Aseret and Miranda to the hell where they belonged. I needed vengeance, needed to right what had been wronged. After reading the spell, I understood Xela’s and Mrs. G’s task. I now trusted her as much as I’d trusted my watchers.

My grip on Mom’s frail spirit tightened, and soon, we burst from the ground into a world of fresh greens lit by the rising sun, the morning glow waking the birds. I wished I could feel the warmth of the sun’s rays on my face, remembering the streaks of light filtering through the canopy in the Amazon.

That memory pulled on my spirit, leading me through the deciduous forest of the Yellowstone National Park and onward. The trees soon turned into a jungle, their branches twined with webs of hanging vines. I imagined the sweet smells of the Amazon that I missed, the intoxicating orchids and the floating pollen carried by hot winds, the way the fresh grass tickled my toes when I ran through the clearing to our cabin.

Home would appear in a few seconds. I wasn’t sure what day it was, or how long I’d been in the underworld. Has the news about William reached my family? My hope was for them to hear what had happened from me: I owed them that. But now, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go back to my human form. Home would never be the same without William. I couldn’t live without him.

The closer I came to the Amazon, the pull to return to my human form strengthened and became more vibrant, as if arguing against my desire to die. The pledge I’d made to William before he perished couldn’t be broken. I wouldn’t break another promise or let him down again.

I’d live for my children, even though my spirit would forever remain with my love, my other half. Once again, we were torn in two: no longer together, no longer equals.

Chapter 13

My mother never let go of my hand as I dragged her weakened soul through the jungle, even when we reached the edge of the clearing in the Amazon. My ghost flew into the house, past my father, past Atram and Willow, toward the sunroom, the wind of my swift passage tugging papers out of their hands.

I lowered my mother’s ghost on the chair and knelt on the marble floor beside the sofa, where my children, now back in their young forms, rested peacefully. My only wish now was to stroke Crystal’s cheek with the back of my hand. The expectation to see them as teens eased my heartache, hoping they’d understand their father’s fate. How was I supposed to tell them about their father? I’d failed, and Crystal and Ayer would be devastated. Would they want their spirits to remain with William, abandoning their bodies in this world? Has my husband’s death decided my children’s fate to search for his lost soul?

My mother knelt beside me, her gaze darting from the children to my father engaged with his iPad.

I remembered Mrs. G’s words:
“Their bodies are there, but not their spirits.”
Sure enough, their chests weren’t moving. I waited five seconds for one of them to release a breath, but no air escaped. Was this what happened when they left their bodies?

“Eric!” I called out, hoping my evil-bender would hear me. Silence. I tried to concentrate on the children’s spirits, letting my soul pinpoint their location and closed my eyes. Again, nothing. Were they preparing to bind Aseret? My worst nightmare would be for them face the demon alone. I had to help them. And they needed to know the truth about their father.

“Willow! Dad! Atram!”

My family rushed into the sun room, but my soul was still in its invisible form.

“I thought I heard Sarah.” My mother-in-law searched the room with her eyes.

“Me too. Hold on,” Atram froze, eyes focused on the twins. My father placed his tablet on the table. Then Atram frowned.

“What’s the matter?” Willow asked.

“I—I can’t hear their heartbeats.”

Ekim ran to the sofa and fixed his acute sense of hearing on the still twins. “Me neither,” he confirmed.

Willow covered her mouth. Unknowingly, she knelt beside me.

I showed myself. “They’re not dead.”

No one jumped; in fact, Willow’s concerned expression eased. But it wouldn’t for long, not after I told my in-laws their son was gone. Dead. And I was to blame for it all.

“Sarah?” My father looked my way. “They’re not breathing.” He pressed his ear against Ayer’s chest at the opposite end of the sofa.

“I know. Their souls are gone.” I placed my hand on top of my daughter’s but failed to feel her soothing touch.

“Gone where?” Willow gasped.

“I don’t know. I think Eric does. I’ve seen them do this before. They travel to the other realms, then return.”

“But they shouldn’t remain out of their bodies too long. Aseret will sense them.” My mother joined the conversation, taking a visible form. Concern shadowed her face as she stood. Her hovering ghost still looked hollow and drained.

Everyone gasped.

“Saraphine?” my father whispered.

She turned slowly. Surrounded by a family she’d been denied, my mother looked from one to the other, rotating in a circle until she came to face my father. “Ekim,” she said. “I shouldn’t have done this. I’m sorry.” My mother began to vanish.

“No, please don’t go,” he begged. “You’re with Sarah?”

Her ghost showed again as she nodded.

My father’s shoulders relaxed, and he stepped toward her. “I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered, trying to stroke her face with his palm. Her ghost vibrated at the touch she couldn’t feel.

The silenced room felt like the center of the universe, and my children weren’t the only ones without breath. The wind outside stopped whistling; the birds ceased their mid-day chirping. The seconds that passed timed like hours. It felt as if the entire forest around the cabin were concentrated on one couple: a vampire and a ghost.

My father took a step closer, lowering his head to my mother’s. She remained still and closed her eyes as my father’s lips hovered above hers, then brushed the shape of my mother’s mouth, as if kissing fog without dispersing it. My father closed his eyes. Now I was certain no one breathed.

Could this moment last forever, be real and my mother be alive? I wished my parents could reunite as a couple. The love they shared cocooned around them like a blanket, the same way it had between me and William. They’d sacrifice their life for one another. But boundaries between life and death couldn’t be broken. My parents would never be together.

A tear escaped my mother’s eye, leaving a glistening trail on her face. A real tear, rolling on a cheek that should have been incorporeal. Another drop trickled from my father’s eye; from a vampire who’d been dead for decades.

Certain that ghosts couldn’t shed tears, nor vampires, I could only think that magic had found a way to connect two people who’d lost each other too early in their life. My mother leaned into my father, and the drops joined as their cheeks touched. Glowing, she seemed to regain all the essence stolen from her by Miranda—the essence of love. Their tear, combined as one, fell to the marble floor. The drop didn’t splatter but rolled out the front door into the Amazon forest.

That’s when I noticed Mrs. G standing in the doorway, her eyes black.

I didn’t dare speak and interrupt the magic I was witnessing.

My mother opened her eyes and stepped back. “I’ve missed you too. Thank you for taking care of Sarah.” She took my father’s hand as if hers was real. Could she actually feel his touch? With Mrs. G in the doorway, I wouldn’t doubt it.

“It doesn’t look like I’ve done a good job.” He shrugged. “I was gone most of her life.”

“You did what you had to, and you’ve done a wonderful job. Look at her. She’s strong, passionate. Although I wish she didn’t sacrifice herself for others. Just like you.”

“And you.”

“She’s a ghost.” Xander stood beside Mrs. G.

“Not for long.” Xela stepped from behind him. Her eyes, my eyes, were still rolling forward, recovering from a spell she’d recently cast.

“It was necessary at the time,” my mom explained, “but not anymore. Miranda thinks we’re both trapped in her lair. She’s gone to Aseret to tell him. It’s time to move forward with the plan.” She looked at Xela.

“We’re ready,” the witch confirmed, squeezing Xander’s hand. It was still odd to stare at myself as if I’d been looking in the mirror, holding my best friend’s hand. Did Xander see me or Xela? The way he examined Xela in my body, I was sure he only envisioned his black witch.

Xela turned to me. “You have a gift beyond that of a half-breed vampire. I heard you read.”

“The spell? I thought you read it through me.”

“No.” Xela shook her head. “You must have had a witch as an ancestor. You read that on your own. It wasn’t me you channeled. It makes sense for the twins to have powers beyond your understanding.”

“What about the children? Will they wake up?” Atram asked.

Before anyone could answer, wind gusted into the cabin, swirling the air into a vortex. Eric stepped from a portal lined in purple mist. “They’re ready too,” he said as if he’d been listening. “No need to worry about their bodies. They have a better grasp of what’s happening than we think.”

“Eric, what happened?” I rushed to his side. “Did you help him?”

Eric looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get him to you. They were supposed to be there.” He looked at the twins narrowing his brows in confusion.

“No,” I whispered.

“Where’s William?” Willow looked at me. “Did you find him?” She came to stand beside my ghost.

“Willow . . . I . . .” I drew a deep, unnecessary breath. “I tried to help him. There were thousands of seekers, and he almost got past . . .” My head hung low. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “He’s gone. William is gone.” The quavering voice sounded as if it someone else spoke. The vibrations of my soul intensified. It was time for my family to mourn my husband. Guilt would remain with me forever for failing them . . . for failing William.

“What do you mean gone?” she whispered, her voice husky. Her hands trembled.

“In the underworld. He fell. The lava.” I forced the words out.

“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “I would have felt it.” Atram took his wife’s arm, supporting her, but Willow remained calm. “I would have felt it,” she repeated.

Part of me knew exactly what she meant, because I couldn’t feel William’s absence. I still felt him here, with me, but in the flesh.

“I had to get my ghost back,” I said to my staring family. “It’s complicated, but we had to make it to Miranda’s lair so she could touch me again.”

“And who told you so?” Eric asked.

“Crystal and Ayer.”

Everyone turned to look at the sleeping twins.

“Do you know where they are?” I asked Eric.