Blood Rush (The Lost Witch Trilogy #2) (19 page)

In her mind, she felt more than saw a grouping of trees. At the bottom of one tree, was a still form, lying motionless with white hair spilling across the ground. Sarah gasped and opened her eyes.

“Zane! I think I found her,” she whispered, gripping his hands tightly.

Zane opened his eyes and looked at her with a grin. “Excellent, because I’ve been calling with everything I have and I’m not hearing anything back. Which way?” he asked, pulling her in for a quick hug.

Sarah smiled in relief and hugged back before pointing behind Zane’s back. “That way.”

She didn’t let go of Zane as they jogged quickly in the direction that her energy was leading her. The closer they got, the saltier the air smelled. They were getting closer to the edge of the woods.

“Zane, can you call out to your mom or grandma? Let them know we might have found her?” Sarah asked quietly, still scanning the forest back and forth as they ran.

Zane shook his head. “They don’t work that way. Some witches can mind speak, most can’t. Call to your grandmother.”

Sarah shook her head. “If I do, I’ll lose my connection to Charlie. It’ll have to wait,” she said, wishing for a cell phone for the millionth time.

Zane heard a snap of twigs and jerked her to a stop. “We might find Charlie, but she might not be alone Sarah. Stay close to me no matter what,” Zane ordered, staring hard at a grouping of trees.

Sarah nodded. “Okay, I promise. Come on Zane. It was probably just a deer or a raccoon or something. We’re close, I can feel it,” she said, pulling on his hand.

Zane sighed and allowed her to pull him into a quick jog again. They reached the clearing Sarah had seen in her mind a few minutes later.

“There!” Sarah yelled, letting go of Zane’s hand and running towards the fallen girl on the ground.

Zane leaped forward and grabbed her around the waist, bringing her back against his chest. “Not so fast. It could be a trap. I’ll go,” he said harshly, upset by her recklessness.

Sarah nodded slowly and motioned for him to let her go. As the adrenaline flowed through her hands, she pulled in her power and let it flow throughout her body just in case she needed to fry anyone. She scanned the clearing but could sense no one else in the vicinity.

“Okay, go then,” she urged Zane.

Zane walked slowly towards Charlie’s body, slumped on the ground and not moving. Her hair was spread out in a tangled mess, the hot pink streaks clashing with the colors of the forest. He ran the last few feet and knelt down in front of her, rolling her over gently and touching her face with his hands.

Sarah stepped forward to help and came up against a wall. “What the heck?” she said out loud as she pushed and pounded on the air between her and Zane.

Zane looked back at her curiously as he lifted Charlie carefully into his arms. “What are you doing?”

Sarah kicked the air and felt pain explode in her foot. She gasped in shock and stepped back. “It’s a line. Like one of grandmother’s. But why?” she asked, glancing around nervously as Zane came to stand next to her, walking through the line as if it wasn’t even there.

“Come on, we’ll figure it all out later. She’s breathing but her heart feels weak. She’s unconscious,” he said grimly, looking around him.

Sarah nodded and reached out and touched the invisible wall one more time with her hand, feeling the hard coldness of it as if it were glass. “He must have expected me to come looking for her. But not you.”

Zane walked back towards the way they came. “We’ve got to alert the others. How?”

Sarah hurried to catch up with Zane, swallowing her fear as Charlie’s head lolled around bonelessly over Zane’s arm as he walked.

“I’ll call out to my grandmother now,” she said and then walked face first into what felt like a glass wall, hitting it so hard, she slammed back on the ground, gasping in pain and shock.

Zane turned around, looking anxious, until he saw her lying on the ground. He smiled at her and shook his head. “Trip over a branch?”

Sarah got shakily to her feet and shook her head, feeling a cold dread wash through her. “Run Zane.
Run
. Get her out of here. It was a trap. Hurry before they get back!” she yelled, looking all around her at the forest for any eyes that might be watching.

Zane slowly lowered Charlie’s body to the ground and he stalked towards her, looking fierce. “What is this?” he demanded, reaching his hands out to touch the invisible wall.

Sarah swallowed sickly as he walked right through it as if it weren’t there. He reached her and pulled her back the way he had come, but where he could move through the barrier, her hand could not. Zane tried a few times, bruising her hand in the process.

Sarah shook her head at Zane and let go of his hand. “You need to hurry. Take her and get her to safety. Your mom and Agnes can take her to the hospital. Bring my dad and my grandma back as fast as you can. Hurry Zane,” she urged frantically, scanning the dark cool forest suspiciously.

Zane ran his hands through his hair and shouted, “
No!
I can’t leave you Sarah. What if I leave and come back and you’re not here?” he demanded, looking more agitated than she’d ever seen him.

Sarah bit her lip and stared at Charlie, lying as if she were dead just a few feet away. “I’m not willing to gamble with Charlie’s life. I’ll protect myself Zane. Just hurry.
Please
,” she begged.

Zane’s face was torn with anguish but with a groan he turned, picked up Charlie, throwing her over his shoulder roughly and then sprinted out of the clearing, leaving her completely and totally alone. She lifted her hands and sent her power out of herself in an arc, to see if it could get through the lines. If it ended at some point, she could fly up to be free. She closed her eyes and used her energy to feel the parameters of her cage. She felt her power rush up and around, encircling her as if a ball enclosed her. She frowned as her power circled around her in a slowly shrinking arc. The trap she had walked into was getting smaller and smaller. She used her power to gauge the area she was in and how much time she had left. The bubble that surrounded her was roughly the size of her grandmother’s kitchen and the way it was shrinking on her she estimated she had fifteen minutes, maybe ten until it completely surrounded her.

Sarah lowered her arms and opened her eyes, scanning the forest again. She couldn’t call out to anyone and she knew instinctively that if she sent her energy against the wall, it would ricochet back on her. She ran her hands through her hair and wondered if there was any way possible Zane would be able to get back in time with her dad and grandmother. She sighed and knew it was very unlikely. It had taken them a half an hour to reach the center of the woods and they’d been running. She was on her own.

Sarah walked towards the wall of glass and pushed against it with all her strength. Nothing. She sent out a small ball of energy towards the wall just to test it and felt the wall expand like bubble gum, ingesting her power into itself. Sarah swallowed nervously as the wall, now with her power inside it, started moving towards her faster. Sarah closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart. Her body started reacting to her environment and the adrenaline kicked her power into high gear, sending wave after wave of energy coursing through her arms and legs. She could feel the static electricity pull her hair out away from her head and her eyes started watering. She wrapped her arms around her stomach to keep any stray energy from feeding the wall.

She stared out at the forest, fearful again of Charlie’s kidnapper coming back and finding her. She knew the magic that surrounded her was powerful. It could only have been Charles’s magic that could entrap her so completely. But it didn’t make sense. He couldn’t cross her grandmother’s lines. He shouldn’t have been able to be here in this forest. So how could she be trapped by his magic?

Sarah closed her eyes and tried to think of a solution. The force that was surrounding her was either going to enclose her and crush her to death or somehow send her somewhere else, most likely to wherever Charles was. For it to react to her and not Zane made her think that this magic was specifically designed by Charles for her and no one else. He wanted her. But he didn’t want her dead.
Yet
. That meant she had to get out and she had to get out now.

She looked up at the shrouded gray sky above the tops of the trees and wondered if it were possible that the field had a weak spot. She’d have to fly up to find it though. She’d only ever been able to float down, or fly after running as fast as she could. Just flying straight up from a standstill was something she’d never attempted before. She breathed in deeply, sent her energy into her legs and arms and jumped straight up as high as she could go and then commanded the air beneath her to push her up. She felt herself go a few feet past her jump, but she slowly floated down again. Sarah sighed and glared at the ground.
She had to do this
. She bunched all her muscles and focused her mind, clearing everything out except her goal of reaching the top of the field. She crouched down and then flung herself straight up, reaching her hands straight to the sky and shouting in her mind,
Up!

Sarah felt a rush of wind and then she was slamming viciously into a hard barrier. She cried out in pain as her body, still obeying her command, pushed and pushed against the glass like field between her and freedom. She relaxed her body, moaning and floated slowly down to the ground, landing on her knees as her legs wouldn’t hold her. Her head pounded in pain and a few of her fingers felt like they were broken. She knew she must have a large bump on her forehead, but she didn’t care. All she cared about now, was survival. Because if she didn’t bust through the wall within the next ten minutes, she would be taken from Zane and from her father and she knew there was a strong possibility that if that happened, she’d never see them again.

She stood shakily, not daring to lean against the wall though in case it fed off her power. She leaned over her legs, breathing in and out, sending her energy through her body in an attempt to take some of the pain away. She felt the pain subside by slow degrees and knew she was running out of time. She stared at the ground for a moment and then frowned, kneeling down in the dirt.

Sarah pushed her hands through the dirt, twigs, leaves and rocks and knew the field didn’t cover the ground she stood on. Sarah blinked quickly and stood up, flexing her hands and then rubbing her arms. She whipped her arms out from her body and then closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. When she opened her eyes, she stared hard at the ground in front of her. Sarah raised her hand, pulling all the power she had inside of her and directed it towards the ground in front of her.

“
Open!
” she screamed at the ground and felt her power fly out of her body, through her arm and towards the ground. Immediately the dirt and rocks started vibrating and she saw a crack form in the ground in front of her. Her eyes grew big as she felt it start to work. She grinned as she realized Charles had given her an escape route. Down.

Sarah walked slowly around the hole she was forming, urging her power down and through the earth, tunneling faster and faster through the dirt, rock and roots. She had commanded the ocean, now she was commanding the earth. She felt her power multiply as she felt the energy of the trees and plants and the rocks themselves join with her as the water had, moving where she wanted it to go. The earth shook underneath her, groaning and shrieking at the violent movement tearing through it. Sarah felt the energy surrounding her turn the air hot, and she began to sweat at the effort and the toll the energy was taking on her body. She paused and ripped off her coat, flinging it on the ground behind her. She knew she wasn’t through yet. She sent her last pulse of energy through her arm and towards the ever widening hole and shouted
Open
one more time and almost fell over from the vibration of the ground.

She called her energy back and collapsed on the ground in front of the hole, gasping and shaking. She could almost see the energy field now, it was becoming so dense and thick as it shrunk around her. Where before it had been the size of a large room, it felt now like the size of a small bathroom. She was running out of time and she felt her power fading. She had used too much too fast. She crawled to the edge of the hole and pulled herself over the edge and down inside. She crawled on her hands and knees down into the darkness, wondering how far her power had been able to go. She glanced up at the dirt ceiling and wondered if it would collapse on top of her. If it did, Charles would never have her. But then, she’d be dead, so it wouldn’t matter anyways.

Sarah felt her breath hitch and knew she was close to crying. The thought of never seeing Zane again, or feeling his arms around her, sent her lurching forward, cutting her hands on the sharp, torn rocks and ripped tree roots. She moved forward, not caring that her jeans were being torn or that her knees were being cut up. She looked back at how far she had come and realized it was quite a distance. The light was fading and she was almost completely surrounded by darkness now. She sent her energy out, searching for escape. She crawled deeper into the hole and a minute later came to the end. She felt the cold dark, moist earth with her hands and looked up. More earth. More dirt. There was no opening. She couldn’t tunnel out.

Sarah reached her hands up to command the earth again, but shrieked when she heard a loud, ear splitting popping noise as if from very near. The impact made her cover her ears in pain as her eardrums felt close to bursting. She leaned up against the dirt wall in fear and wondered if that was the signal that Charles had arrived.

She turned and clawed at the dirt wall frantically, before she got control of herself and leaned her head tiredly against her arms. She whispered out loud, even though no one could hear her, “Please help me.
Please
, please help me,” she begged.

Sarah slowly fell to her knees and turned around so her back was to the wall. She was completely empty. She wouldn’t be able to fight Charles off. It was over.