Page 47

47

Evan

I felt utterly exhausted and emotionally drained. One minute, I’d been watching the coven form a chanting circle, the next, some power overcame me, and I felt myself fall behind the garden wall. No one seemed to notice. Then it was like I was in some dream. I could see the circle and Al and Cary chanting side by side, their hands lifted toward the manor.

Then I saw him. Andy… or Leon, the entity. It was hard to tell who was who as their faces morphed from one to the other. Then Inez was beside me. “ Stay down, it’s time .”

It wasn’t like I could move anyway, but I understood what she meant. Don’t get in the way.

Electricity buzzed, a bolt of lightning streaked through the air, and power flowed out of Al and into Inez. Then when Cary began to chant, I saw Andre, who was also pulling energy from the coven.

I saw it then. Andy and the entity’s energy was red and angry, popping around them. The coven’s energy was blue, peaceful, serene. And their blue was much stronger than the red. That’s when I understood what was happening. Inez and Andre were using the coven’s positive energy to fight my ex and the evil one.

It was all blurred after that. Andre somehow looked like me. He taunted my ex and fooled him and the entity into thinking he was me. Andy shot at him twice as Inez and he chanted that they were cleansing the manor with their blood.

Then the evil entity split away from Andy, and I could move again, like my body and spirit had realigned.

I rushed toward Cary to let him know I was safe, then I felt energy pouring from me, Al, Christie, and Cary. It flowed through us and into Inez and Andre, then like a bolt of lightning, it struck the old man. Then he vanished, almost like he’d been pushed through a sieve or something.

When Cary closed the circle, I was in his arms in an instant.

Inez and Andre explained what they could before the power they’d gained from the coven dissipated. Then they, too, were gone.

Cary and I left shortly after that. I knew we should’ve stayed to help clean up, but I was too wiped out and Cary didn’t look much better. So much had happened. So much of my energy was used for the spell, and his too.

That night, I slept hard, but I had dreams. Dreams that helped me understand.

Three men slipped into the manor and down the stairs where Leon, the old man, waited for them. “You’re to kill him,” he said. “Make it look like an accident.”

The three men chuckled, then one of them, a fat, balding man, nodded. “First, we’re going to take care of you.”

A scar-faced man pulled a knife and attacked Leon, slitting his throat. I watched, disgusted, as the three men laughed.

“That’s him taken care of, son of a bitch wanting his own kid killed for what?”

“Nothing that kid has ever done is as bad as what the nasty old shit has done himself.”

The scar-face man kicked the now-dead Leon Cordelia where he lay on the floor, lifeless. “What’s the plan with the kid? We gonna do him in too?”

The balding man, who must’ve been their ringleader, shook his head. “No, not yet. Let’s see what happens. The sheriff will be wanting to pin this on someone and might pin it on the boy. Best give that time to work out.”

The third man, an Asian man who hadn’t moved since the murder moments ago, shook his head. “This still don’t feel right. We — ”

“What, Wu? Let him steal what’s left of your land, all of our land? Ruin your business? Besides, he threatened to kill your own kid.”

The man, Wu, shook his head, regret evident on his face. “Come on, this is done. Let’s get out of here.”

I saw images then of the old man, Leon, torturing and killing men he’d employed. Each man, including the three former employees who murdered Leon, had all been his victim in one way or another. Maybe that wasn’t an excuse for their actions, and not forcing Leon to face justice, but I did at least understand their motives.

It still didn’t explain why the old man had embraced his hatred to the point of being all-consuming. I guessed it didn’t really matter now, it was likely beyond explanation. At least he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else in his life or beyond. I hoped.

I woke up sore, and knew I wouldn’t have the mental or physical energy for work that day. I called Christie, who said she already had people coming in to cover for us both. Thank goodness. I cuddled back into the warm, secure embrace of the only person I wanted and needed to see today.