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  Well, those two men might not be capable of doing the right thing, but I definitely was. Although my inner gas tank was almost on empty, I would use up all my reserves to fight until the end.

  “Lee, take me to the tree.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The Founders’ tree stood in the middle of an open field. Like many others in our region, it was a massive live oak, growing taller and wider than its relatives that beat it by hundreds of years. Town lore stated that it expanded to its current height within five years of the original three founders planting their first treasures.

  Its branches twisted and spread out wide in all directions that dipped as close to the earth and stretched high in the sky. The thick green canopy of leaves hosted long strands of Spanish moss. Benevolent energy radiated off of it on a normal day. On a night like tonight, the entire atmosphere of the area crackled with magic.

  Once we arrived, I ignored the increasing pulse of pain in my body and enlisted Lee and Alison Kate’s help to look for Jed. With all the chaos before the ceremony buzzing around us, it didn’t take long for the two of them to be pulled aside or distracted. Trying to stay hidden from my grandmother didn’t help my ability to openly run around asking questions, either.

  While walking backward, searching the faces around me, I stumbled into someone and lost my balance. Strong hands caught me and kept me upright.

  I turned to apologize to my savior and found myself in the arms of Ashton. “Thank you,” I managed.

  Instead of polite acceptance, he pushed me away from him, his hands fisting at his side. “Sure.”

  “Ashton, darlin’, there you are.” Aunt Nora approached him and hooked her arm around his. When she noticed me, her smile disappeared. “Oh, you.”

  “Yes. Me.” My irritation with her extra-puckered countenance flamed my anger over her entanglement in the entire mess.

  “Why are you here, Charlotte? I would think in your current condition it wouldn’t be safe for you to participate tonight. If I looked as disheveled as you do, I wouldn’t step a foot out the door,” she challenged.

  For once, I wished with all my might that I could pass on the curse. “Gee, thanks.”

  Turning her attention back to Ashton, Aunt Nora’s face lit up. “I’ve secured you a perfect spot so you can watch me take my place as the Walker founding member.” Her eyes flitted back to mine in triumph.

  “Since when?” I blurted.

  A malevolent grin spread across her face. “Since your grandmother realized the necessity of all three families being needed to complete the ceremony.”

  “But Nana already has Uncle Tipper’s treasure. Why would she need you?”

  She held up her fingers as she counted. “It took a Hawthorne, a Goodwin, and a Walker in the beginning. I imagine your grandmother realized how much she needed me.”

  The world flashed in and out for a second, and my legs threatened to give out. I took a deep breath, willing myself not to faint. “For the ceremony only. That seat isn’t yours permanently.”

  “Not yet. But soon.” She pulled on her companion’s arm. “Ashton, are you coming along?”

  The young man looked about as good as I felt. Sweat trickled down his face, and his color resembled more that of a ghost. He hid a slight cough behind the back of his hand. “If you don’t mind, Leonora, I’m not feeling all that well. I believe that I will have to miss out on tonight’s events.” He unhooked her arm from his. “Charlotte, if you need an escort home, I would be happy to take you with me.”

  Ashton’s dismissal of my aunt and attention to me shocked the bitter witch. Her tone chilled. “I’m sure my niece can find her way back to where she belongs on her own. You run along home and feel better.” She took my hand in hers and held me in place so that I couldn’t leave if I wanted to.

  “Listen,” she hissed. “I saw you talking to Tucker at the barbecue, and now you’re after Ashton. I don't know what plans you're making, but you will not ruin mine. Clementine, who is a real Walker daughter, will be marrying the Hawthorne heir.”

  I yanked my hand from her frosty grip. “What about your plans, Aunt Nora?”

  The sound of Nana’s voice interrupted our confrontation. With determined haughtiness, Aunt Nora made her way to the center to stand next to my grandmother and Hollis.

  Nana addressed the crowd with great solemnity. “Every year, we go out of our way to celebrate the founding of our small town because what we've accomplished is worth celebrating. Three families came together to form one place where any and all could live without judgment and without fear in a world where both exist rampantly.

  “Tonight, we come to the tree that grew out of sacrifice and promise in the place of the first pact to renew the protection and purpose of Honeysuckle Hollow.”

  Hollis raised his voice. “Please take your designated places, and we’ll get started.”

  Everyone who would contribute their magic to the ceremony surrounded the founding members in a large circle. Those with wings lit up into the sky around the tree. Four experienced witches from an older generation rode broomsticks high in the air to take their places at the cardinal points.

  I walked my way to the edge of the grounding circle. My eyes spotted Jed on the far side, and I refused an offered spot in between Lily and Lavender. Leaving my confused friends, I broke through to the outside, the circle enclosing and shutting me out.

  For the first time, I joined others who could not be an active part of the ceremony but still came to watch. Big Willie nodded at me, his hands full with a very hairy baby he rocked back and forth. Lucky chewed on a toothpick, focusing on his fingernails rather than the ceremony that he couldn’t see. Still, he remained here.

  The ground trembled a bit, but I couldn’t tell if it was the gathering of magic or my legs failing. With dragging steps, I did my best to make it closer to Jed so I could catch him after the ceremony.

  Pain rocked through me, and I reached out to grab hold of anything to steady me.

  A pair of kind eyes regarded me from the person who held me up. “I have you, Miss Charli.”

  “Beau, what are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Can’t miss tonight. It was one of Tipper’s favorite events. He said it was the most important thing. And, I think it’s very pretty.” He pointed at the light sparkles shimmering around the form of the tree.

  I wanted to ask him about whether or not he’d found the will, but I wobbled again, the proximity to so much magical energy taking its toll on me.

  Another pair of cold hands held up my other side. “It is different when you stand out here, is it not?” Lady Eveline asked.

  My grandmother’s voice rang out from the center as she called out the ritual. I knew the words by heart, and yet they sounded different from this distance.

  “I never considered how the ceremony looked from this perspective,” I admitted.

  “Now you can understand Raif’s campaign a little. Sometimes it takes walking in someone else's shoes to fully grasp the situation. To see who wields the power,” Eveline tipped her head toward the inner circle, “and who does not.”

  Those who formed the circle chanted words of promise and intent. The edges of the founders’ tree glowed brighter. The ground shook underneath me again and rocked the three of us.

  “I think tonight’s power will be at a much greater magnitude,” Lady Eveline observed. “Also, I must apologize profusely for my part in the article. I told Raif that information in the strictest of confidence.”

  “No secrets amongst us vampires. For our security, he says,” added Beau.

  I didn’t have time to dive neck-deep into vampire politics. Magic swirled and surrounded all of us. It tugged on me, demanding to thread my reserves in with the collective. And I had nothing left to give.

  I fingered the pink key around my neck, but didn’t think I had enough energy to activate it. “I need to get out of here.”

  “What’s wrong?” Lady Eveline turned her concerned attention
to me.

  Raif appeared at her elbow. “I believe she may not have taken into consideration the effect of tonight’s ritual on what she holds inside her.”

  “We do not have time for your reproach right now,” Lady Eveline admonished the tall vampire.

  Nana’s voice rang out strong and true as she finished weaving the spell. The radiance around the tree bloomed as bright as the sun until it bathed the field and all around in light as bright as daytime. A vacuum of power pulled around us like the tide being sucked out all at once, leaving the ocean floor dry before the first destructive wave of a tsunami.

  “Take me out of here. Please,” I begged all three vampires.

  “Here.” Raif handed his precious pug to Beau. “Be careful with him.” With polite intent, he gathered me into his arms and turned to take me away.

  A bright flash and a sonic boom ripped through the air. A column of power burst out of the tree and into the air high in the sky as if it rocketed all the way to the slightly pink moon. A mighty force teeming with magic radiated out, penetrating through every single being in the blast zone.

  With his vampire speed, Raif had managed to carry me further away, but not far enough. The wave of energy struck us, and he stumbled in its overwhelming wake.

  For a second, the world stopped, and an eerie calm descended over the two of us. I took a deep breath, the hole of energy inside of me filled to the brim. I hadn’t felt this good, this alive, since before I’d come home to Honeysuckle.

  In surprise, I gazed up at Raif, still holding me in his arms. “You helped me.”

  “Contrary to what you may believe, I do not wish any harm to come to you, Miss Charlotte. I value my position as a citizen of this town.” His tone did not hold any friendliness in it.

  I pondered whether or not he meant to be kind to me or whether or not he wanted to garner favor with my grandmother by helping. Either way, he’d helped.

  “I feel much better now,” I ventured. “In fact, maybe you can put me—”

  A throb of agonizing pain wrenched through my body, cutting everything else off. All sense of well-being fled, replaced with a black hole of nothingness, sucking my very essence into its gaping jaws and attempting to swallow me whole. I clawed to stay out of its reach, but I sunk further into its murky shadows with every attempt to fight.

  In the dark, only my screams remained.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Voices echoed from someplace I couldn’t see. They surrounded me, called to me, ordered me, yelled at me, and cried for me, but I couldn’t answer them. A cold embrace of nothingness wrapped me in its cocoon, and for once, I had no will to fight against it.

  With great effort, I attempted to surface out of the gloomy depths. Searching, I tried to find a speck of light, a glimmer to guide me out of the glacial pool that threatened to drag me under. With hope leaking out of me, I did my best to listen.

  “Give her some of that yucky drink,” a female voice said.

  “How can I when she's still unconscious?” Nana countered.

  “I’ll open her mouth, and you can pour it down her gullet. I don't care. This is not how her life ends,” argued a male voice that sometimes irritated me and sometimes brought me great comfort.

  I strained to pluck his name from my memories but found myself sinking back into the bleakness again.

  “Doc, can’t you fix her?” gritted the same man.

  “I’m not sure how much more she can take. I have found no cure for this in my searches,” the voice of the town healer explained. “My guess is that the blast from last night’s ceremony fried her circuits like a chicken leg in hot grease.”

  Another determined voice wavered when he spoke. “No, I refuse to accept this. There's been enough death. Enough loss.” He gripped my hand and squeezed three times.

  Matt, I recognized. I called out to him, but no sound came out.

  Real life waited on the other side of the water's surface, tempting me to break through and breathe clean air. I could sense everyone, hear them, but they couldn't see that I was there. Trying hard not to give in.

  The heavy weight of the dark wrapped itself around my body and pulled me under again, and I lost the connection.

  “Not yet,” I begged it. “I’m not ready to go.”

  A smokiness whirled around me, and I swore I heard the voices of two people that I missed with all my heart. The first of their whispers told me to go.

  “I don’t understand,” I called out. “Go where?”

  As if speaking in a vast cave, the words echoed around me. “Go back. You have to go back.” The soft voice tinkled in the familiar tones of my mother.

  “Finish it, Birdy,” the voice of my father pushed. “Finish it and be done.”

  Tears sprung from my eyes. “Where are you?”

  A spark of warmth and comfort bloomed in my heart, guarding me against the surrounding despair. The word here resounded over and over.

  “Can’t I stay with you?” I implored.

  “Your choice,” they both said, the last word reverberating.

  It could all end now. No more pain. Reunited with my parents. But what about my brother? My grandmother? My friends? There was something left unfinished that nagged at me, but the longer I pondered, the more it didn’t matter.

  A warm presence touched my shoulder. It slid down my arm until it felt like fingers wrapped around my hand. With three squeezes, my father’s energy permeated me.

  “You are so much stronger than you think. We’re very proud of you. Be my Birdy and find your way back home. You have things to do.”

  His words resonated in me, but I still didn’t know which choice to make. “What should I do, Dad?”

  The warmth slipped away, and nobody answered me.

  “Mom? Dad?”

  My time to take action grew short. If I chose to stay, maybe I would be reunited with my parents forever. But when had I ever given up without a fight? According to many, we Goodwin women were stubborn to a fault.

  The final decision made, I concentrated on locating what I wanted most. A tiny pinprick of light pierced the dark, and a thin glowing thread extended to me like a lifeline. I grabbed onto it and let it pull me forward, reeling me out of the nothingness.

  Gasping a deep breath, I broke through the surface and into the bright sunny day. Familiar faces surrounded the couch I lay on. Matt sat on the edge of the coffee table, still holding my hand.

  Nana wiped the sweat from my brow with a shaky hand. “Welcome back, sweet girl.”

  My fuzzy little orange kitten jumped up into my lap with a little chirp, purring and rubbing her head against my hand. Alison Kate clapped her hands, and Lee hugged her around her shoulders. Lavender clung to her cousin Lily, who stood next to Ben, all of them watching my every breath. Blythe waited on the edges, a mix of emotions swimming in her eyes.

  Relief rolled off my friends and family who crowded around me. A bit too close. I squeezed my eyes tight and burrowed into my grandmother's chest to be cradled.

  “Y’all give this girl some breathing room right now,” Nana demanded.

  “Somebody, get her some sweet honeysuckle iced tea,” Mason said. He stood close behind Matt on the coffee table, staring at me with too much concern in his eyes. “I heard it does wonders.” He winked.

  “I’d rather she down some of Nana’s sludge, just to be on the safe side.” Matt squeezed my hand one more time and let me go, attempting to hide that he wiped a tear away.

  I groaned, but Nana patted my back and got up to fetch me a glass. Settling back on the couch, I struggled not to fuss at all of them staring at me like an animal in the zoo. The uncomfortable quiet scrutiny made me squirm.

  Peaches hopped off my lap and took a seat on the edge of the couch. Spreading her striped legs, she proceeded to clean herself in the most undignified manner. The awkward display broke the tension, and we all laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Nana asked as she came back in holding two glasses. “One sweet
tea. Then you'll need an extra dose of my concoction, and we'll see where we go from there. In the meantime, y'all say your peace and skedaddle. We can't have you hovering around her all day.”

  Protests flew around the room, and I held up my hand to quiet them down. With as much effort as I could manage, I pushed myself to a sitting position on the couch and faced my friends and family.

  In a shaky, quiet voice, I attempted to lighten the mood. “Hey, it’s not like it's my funeral.”

  Nobody laughed.

  “I promise I'm not dying today. I've been ensured that there's something I have to do first.” My eyes darted to my brother, but how could I tell him who had given me the reassurances without him thinking I'd gone crazy?

  After a lot of hugs and way too many kisses, my tribe of friends left. Doc promised to come back the next day. Only Matt, Mason, and my grandmother remained. The three of them stared at me with unspoken scolding in their eyes.

  “Go ahead. Let me have it.” I braced myself.

  “What were you thinking, going to the ceremony?” Matt cringed at his harsh tone. “I mean, you should have known better. And why did you let her?” he asked our grandmother.

  “Don’t blame her,” I insisted. “Nana told me not to. I was supposed to go home after the pig pickin’, but I saw Jed there and wanted to catch him before things started.”

  Nana sighed. “And I got too caught up in my role to mind you.”

  I faced my grandmother. “Remind me some time that we need to talk about how things are run here in Honeysuckle. Someday, you should experience the ceremony from outside of the circle. It might help you make decisions as you sit in the high seat.”

  She stared at me dumbfounded. “What are you talking about?” The expression on her face told me that she thought I hadn't quite recovered yet. “Does it have anything to do with Raif being the one who carried you here?”

  My eyes widened. “He did?”

  Mason spoke up. “He wouldn’t let anyone take you from his charge. Said it was important that he deliver you.”