Autumn Storm (25 page)

The sense of danger woke Autumn despite the
pain meds she took before bed. Her eyes flew open, and she stared
at the face peering into hers. It was Summer. The dark-haired ghost
was scared. Orienting herself, Autumn sat up. She’d crawled into
bed when Beck dropped her off and cried. When dark fell, she took a
full dose of her painkillers to help her sleep, and her eyes were
still swollen.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered to the
ghost.

The door opened, and Summer vanished.

“Good. You’re awake already.” Dawn’s voice
was cold. “Come with me.”

Autumn stared at her, ready to refuse and
roll over to go back to sleep. She heard a click that sounded very
much like a round being chambered in a gun. The air pushed at her,
warning her of her danger again.

“I’m not going to say it again!”

“Okay,” Autumn murmured. She went to her
closet.

“You won’t need your coat where you’re
going.”

Autumn’s hands trembled. “Boots?”

“Hurry.”

She obeyed and snagged the two stones that
were supposed to help her channel the elements from their place on
the nightstand. A few minutes later, they stepped onto the porch.
The cold air took Autumn’s breath away. She wasn’t expecting the
shock to be so much colder than the temperature during the day.

“Come
on
,” Dawn said, pushing
her.

Autumn caught herself on the porch railing.
She’d been walking without her brace for several days, but she
wasn’t too certain about the icy stairs. Snow had started to fall
again, and she looked up at the dark sky before taking her first
step.

While her pajamas consisted of long sleeves
and pants, they were thin and did little to keep the chill away.
Before she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was shivering.

“Dawn, you don’t –“ Autumn started.

“Shut up. Beck is mine. I’m so sick of
people coming between us.” Dawn waved the gun around
recklessly.

“I’m not seeing him!”

“You spent the night at his cabin!” Dawn
snapped.

“Yeah, but it’s not what you – “

“Save it. After tonight, no one will come
between us anymore. Now, walk.”

Her words chilled Autumn more than the
night. Dawn had struck her as arrogant but not capable of
killing
someone! Autumn moved forward as ordered. The snow
was up to her thighs. Not wanting it to soak through, she drew the
air magick into her lungs and expelled it a few times.

Please clear a path,
she asked it.
Awe filled her as it obeyed. She couldn’t get over how responsive
the magicks had become.

It didn’t matter, if she didn’t figure out
how to get out of this. She thought hard about how to disarm the
situation. Even if she got the gun away from Dawn, what would she
do? She couldn’t hurt the pregnant girl and risk hurting Beck’s
baby girl. She had to talk her way out of this, get the gun or at
least, convince Dawn to agree not to shoot her, and bring them both
safely back to the house.

Of all the nights for Beck not to be around
… Autumn swallowed hard. She’d lost both Turner twins. Beck was
visibly upset at her, but she’d been honest. She couldn’t be with
him. There was something stopping her: her dangerous attraction to
Decker and the uncontrollable instinct that compelled her towards
him, even when she saw how fast he was falling to the Darkness. Her
instinct to run away from him and to him were equally strong. She
didn’t know what to do.

Although, Decker made the choice for her and
walked away. She wanted to cry again but forced herself to focus.
She wasn’t going to make it through the night alive, if she didn’t
figure out how to deal with this pressing situation.

She stopped at the edge of the path.

“I need to know which way, so I can clear a
path,” she said to Dawn without turning.

“Miner’s Drop.”

Autumn’s heart slowed at the words. Was that
Dawn’s plan? Shoot her and throw her into the canyon?

The air cleared a new path, and Autumn
realized Dawn was an air magick like her. Their route wrapped
around the dorms to take them to the forbidden trail. She made her
limp worse than it was to stymie their progress and give herself
time to think.

Dawn knew how to use her air magick, while
Autumn was still learning. She doubted she’d be able to do more
than catch the girl off guard. Which left her with earth magick.
All she knew of the earth was its ability to heal and protect. How
did she use it against Dawn without hurting either of them?

If not an option, she’d have to wait until
Dawn was close enough that she could punch her. Autumn winced at
the idea. She had no agility or ability to maneuver, and if Dawn
kicked her bad leg, the game was over. Any sort of struggle might
lead to one of them getting shot.

She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t
wait for a break and run, and she didn’t have her cane to use as a
weapon. Despair crept through her. She pushed it away, needing her
head clear of emotions. She hadn’t survived a horrific car accident
to be shot by a jealous ex-girlfriend in a dark field!

They entered the forest, and her sense of
urgency bloomed. Autumn crossed her arms, watching her breath rise
in the stillness of the corridor. They reached the clearing. She
made her limp worse and slowed as they left the woods.

The air cleared a different path than she
expected, one that led to the center of the clearing instead of to
the cliff.

“Follow it,” Dawn told her.

Autumn did. Her eyes fell to the strange
specters in the center of the field, the memories of the air
magick. The black and white clouds were as she remembered them,
caught in some strange, repetitive dance. When she neared, they
dissipated.

The path stopped at a large, flat stone in
the center of the field. Confused, Autumn faced Dawn, who was
looking at her watch. Autumn cleared a spot and sat on the stone,
hoping to draw on the warmth of the earth to counter the cold.

“You can’t kill me,” she said. “Won’t you go
Dark?”

“Technically, no. Only if you use your
magick to break the Laws. But, I’m not stupid enough to try it,”
Dawn replied. “Alexa’s already Dark.”

The calm words scared Autumn. So they were
waiting for one of Dawn’s friends.

A buzzing came from Dawn’s pocket. She
snatched the phone and looked at it for a second before answering.
Stepping away, she faced the forest and whispered too quietly for
Autumn to hear.

If she was able to run, she would. Autumn
hated her weak body and felt tears of frustration burn her eyes.
No. She wasn’t helpless, as long as she stayed in control. She had
time to figure things out. Talk Dawn down. Escape.

She hoped.

A shadow at the edge of the forest drew her
attention. Praying it was Beck, she squinted to see the figure
clearly. Pale face, surrounded by black fog. Summer, the girl from
the mirror, was watching. Something significant happened here. The
air was showing Autumn another memory. Her temple pricked with
pain. Was it possible this was her memory, too?

The earth warmed the stone beneath her, and
she glanced down. Snow melted in the shape of an animal. As she
watched, the shape became clear. A deer.

Tarzan.

The name emerged from the depths of her mind
and made her head pulse. Autumn gripped it with both hands,
breathing deeply. She stopped fighting herself and let the memories
recede. The pain eased.

Dawn tucked the phone away and drew
nearer.

“Will you tell me what happened here?”
Autumn asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why this place is so …” her eyes
went to the figure at the edge of the forest “haunted.”

“Decker shoved his ex into Miner’s Drop,”
Dawn said, appearing amused. “She went Dark, and he killed
her.”

No.
The dark-haired girl’s voice was
in her head again. Autumn struggled not to try to remember, unable
to juggle the pain and Dawn.

“I can’t see Decker doing that,” she said
truthfully. “There’s got to be more to the story.”

Dawn shuddered. “He’s gone crazy. Alexa said
he kissed you yesterday.”

Decker’s kisses weren’t something Autumn
ever wanted to forget. She’d only walked away from him because he
let her. His farewell kiss tormented her. How could she know what
he was and hope with all her heart he wasn’t really going away?

“What do they see in someone like you?” Dawn
asked, peering at her. “You’re crippled. Weak.” her eyes went to
Autumn’s leg.

“Is Alexa dating Decker or something?”
Autumn asked to keep from getting angry.

“She was. Summer came between them. She
almost came between me and Beck, too, but I fixed it. Alexa
couldn’t fix her issue.” Dawn rolled her eyes. “They’re together
again now.”

Summer
. Another pulse of pain. Autumn
pushed the name away, mentally recording what caused her head to
hurt. Air memories or hers, one of them was struggling to warn
her.

“Beck likes blonds, so it was easy to pull
him back to me. At first,” Dawn said, frowning. “Then … something
happened. He went weird after Summer died. We still have a shot, if
you’re out of the way.”

The apparition wasn’t leaving. It wasn’t
exactly offering her any help, either. Autumn barely registered
Dawn’s words, her head pounding. If she was meant to die here, why
were there memories struggling to tell her what happened? Why did
it matter?

Two figures appeared down the corridor from
the direction of the school. Dawn waved for them to hurry. After a
few deep breaths to stabilize the pain, Autumn recognized Alexa,
the girl with blue eyes who had been in their room with Dawn. The
Dark teen with her was unfamiliar, a tall guy close to Alexa’s
age.

“What took you so long?” Dawn demanded.

“Chill, Dawn,” Alexa said. “We were
thinking. We need to do this different this time.”

“What? Why?”

Alexa glanced at Autumn. She didn’t speak
again until she was close enough to whisper to Dawn.

“Decker’s totally lost it. He’s …” her voice
lowered even more.

Autumn strained to hear but was unable to.
She saw the unease in the Dark witchlings; it was no longer a
secret that Decker had lost control. They were afraid, and she
couldn’t help feeling hopeful. She was scared of him, and he’d
shown more restraint with her than anyone. If they feared Decker
enough, they wouldn’t hurt her.

The earth could swallow them. Autumn
considered the idea then recalled the Light Laws. She wasn’t
allowed to use magick to hurt someone. What option did that leave
her?

Her eyes went to the three. The Dark teens
were hesitant, with the guy frowning. Dawn wasn’t backing down.
With nothing but her mind to use, Autumn had to act soon.

“They said Decker’s killing Light
witchlings,” she said loudly enough for them to hear. “He’s not
waiting for them to turn Dark. Just –“

“Shut up!” This came from Alexa.

“It’s the truth,” Autumn insisted. “He kills
with his hands and a knife. It’s not a quick death.”

The two Dark teens stared at her. She
guessed they’d heard similar rumors.

“Ignore her. She doesn’t know what she’s
talking about,” Dawn said. “Stick to the plan.”

“She
does
know, Dawn. I’ve spent
like, every night this week with him, until he kicked me out
yesterday,” Alexa said, eyes pinned to Autumn. “You’re the
blondie
he and Beck were fighting over. So, I guess Decker
won you, or he wouldn’t have kicked me out.”

She and Dawn exchanged a look that made
Autumn uneasy.

“Told you it wasn’t Tanya,” Dawn said.

“What happened to Tanya?” Autumn asked.

“Nothing yet, right?” Dawn prodded.

“A little late for that info,” the guy
said.

“Yeah, we took care of that yesterday,”
Alexa agreed. “Dammit, Dawn, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know! You said you were certain it
was her after the messages he and Beck sent each other.”

“It made sense. This one and Tanya looked a
lot alike.”

Dawn shook her head. Autumn listened,
horrified that they’d mistaken Tanya for her. She doubted the other
girl was alive but was afraid the truth would shred her remaining
calm.

“You got sloppy again,” Dawn said to Alexa.
“You gotta focus better.”

“It’s kinda hard.” Alexa reddened. “I mean,
Decker kept me pretty busy this week. You came by. You know. He’s
insatiable.”

“Sex is a tool to get what you want, Alexa.
This kid will get me a trust fund.”

Their squabbling made Autumn nauseous.

“I’ve got a shot with Decker. I’m not gonna
screw this one up,” Alexa said. “I don’t want a trust fund. I just
want him.”

Autumn hesitated. “You’re one of many,” she
said. “But I think you know you’re not the only one, don’t
you?”

Alexa’s gaze narrowed.

“We went through this last time,” Dawn said
and rolled her eyes. “Are you really backing out?”

“Yes,” the guy said.

“No,” Alexa answered simultaneously.

“You just said –” the guy looked at
Alexa.

“I changed my mind.”

Autumn cursed under her breath. That wasn’t
exactly what she intended to do. She hadn’t realized she almost had
Dawn alone again. Not that those odds were much better, when the
girl was armed.

Or maybe, they were. Autumn’s gaze went to
the apparition. Decker killed Summer when she went Dark. He sensed
when someone went Dark; it was his duty. If Dawn screwed up bad
enough, Decker would come. Autumn wasn’t sure that was much better
than her current situation. Then again, she recalled the way he’d
touched her, the look in his eyes.

Some part of him remained. But dared she
risk bringing the rest of him into this?

None of them would leave alive. Her gaze
went to Dawn’s stomach, and she wanted to scream in frustration.
No, Decker was not the solution she needed. Maybe the threat of him
was enough.