‘You can’t make me do it,’ I told her, the moss creeping up from the floor and wrapping around my ankles, not holding me down but lifting me up, giving me strength. ‘Without me, the magic dies, right? And you’re just a regular old woman.’
She gasped. ‘Old? How dare you?’
Slowly but purposefully, she moved towards me. I could tell she didn’t believe me. It wasn’t conceivable to her, the idea that I would willingly surrender my connection to magic. Not when she was prepared to sacrifice her own son to secure it.
‘You’ve put us both in quite the predicament, honey.’ Hervoice was a musical sigh. ‘Youcouldleave but if you don’t complete the ceremony, you won’t be able to save your friend or your wolf.’
‘Lydia is your best friend’s granddaughter, how could you do this to her?’ I asked, trying to distract her while I searched for Wyn’s energy. He was somewhere nearby but I couldn’t see exactly where. Something was blocking me. Wherever she had him hidden, he was in pain and his pulse was getting weaker.
‘It’s amazing what you’re capable of after you sacrifice the life of your beloved firstborn son,’ Catherine replied, testing the tip of the knife with her pointer finger. ‘Ginny should thank me. That girl will be a lot less trouble now.’
‘You’re not a witch, you’re a monster.’
‘Speaking of monsters,’ she replied with a wink, ‘it really was very helpful of you to have your wolf in the house last night so I could smarten up my Were-taming spell. Usually I don’t allow dogs up on the furniture but we’ll make an exception in his case.’
‘You knew he was in the house?’ I was instantly angry at myself for sounding so surprised.
‘Emily, honey, I’m your grandmother and I’m a witch. A fly can’t hiccup in my house without me knowing about it. Did you really think you could sneak around with a boy from a Were family and I wouldn’t notice?’ Catherine laughed but it wasn’t a pleasant sound. ‘I’ve known since the very beginning. I didn’t see any harm in letting it play out for a while. Your romantic walks, the trip to the beach. I almost drew a line at your sleepover but thankfully, you’ve got yourself a little gentleman there. At least he was raised right. Well, as much as a wolf can be.’
Around us, the trees began to creak and bend just as they had at Wormsloe, binding together in an impenetrable wallaround me, Catherine, and the Bell monument, blocking out the rest of Bonaventure and keeping me in. Keeping her in with me.
Behind my grandmother was a towering stone archway. The one from my vision. I couldn’t tell if the vines that decorated it from top to bottom were alive or carved into stone. Everything pulsed with the same dark energy, dead and alive. ‘He doesn’t have a lot of time. If he phases while he’s under my spell, well, let’s just say it won’t be pretty and it would be a shame to mess up that handsome face. With that in mind, shall we get this show on the road?’
Catherine stood firm, framed by the arch with the moon high above her, arms outstretched. ‘Emily Caroline James, do you accept the blessing as the blessing accepts you?’
Somewhere in the cemetery, I heard Wyn howl.
This was it, this was the moment. Leave and risk Wyn and Lydia’s lives, Ashley would never be safe, or Jackson. Even without magic, Catherine would still be incredibly powerful, a rich, influential woman, and what would I be? A lonely orphan with nothing and no one. She would retain her place in the world but no one would miss me if I were to mysteriously disappear. Or I could stay and Become. Complete the ceremony, accept my magic and play Catherine at her own game.
I made my choice.
‘That’s not my name,’ I said, calmly stepping forward. ‘If we’re going to do this, let’s do it properly.’
‘I knew you wouldn’t walk away,’ Catherine whispered, glowing with victory. ‘Emma Catherine Bell, do you accept the blessing as the blessing accepts you?’
Breathing in, I stepped up to the arch and the sky filled with clouds. The rain came suddenly, pouring down from the sky, and when the lightning struck, it was so close, I could smellthe singed grass. Once I passed through the archway, there would be no turning back.
‘I do,’ I declared.
For Wyn, for Ashley, Lydia, Jackson, my mom and my dad. But most of all, for myself.
‘As the full moon represents wholeness and completion, we ask those who came before us to complete the Becoming and make our daughter whole,’ Catherine intoned, dagger held high. ‘We ask those who came before us to bring her into the blessing. We ask those who came before us to offer her their strength and wisdom, and show her the path she must follow.’
The sound of the wind and the rain disappeared, engulfed by the dozens of voices that called to me, a siren song promising everything I’d ever wanted if I would just pass under the arch. I took one step, then another. On the threshold of the archway, I paused. On the other side, I saw Bonaventure not as it was now but how it used to be. Quieter and more beautiful, with fewer graves and more open space, birds and butterflies fluttering happily in the sky. The sun shone like it was the middle of the day and a tall, elegant woman with long red hair stepped into view, holding up a hand to beckon me forward. I couldn’t see her face but I knew who she was.
It was me. Not as I was now but as I could be.
As I would be.
My future in Savannah’s past.
I took the final step through the archway and the lightning stopped, the rain ended, the sky was clear again and every inch of my being was set aflame.
The Becoming had truly begun.
‘OK then!’ my grandmother exclaimed with delight as I stepped down from the arch, stumbling back into the presentday, already reeling with the new magic that flowed through my veins. ‘Now it’s time for the fun part.’
Light hides the lies; truth lives in the dark.
