The Devil's Third (9 page)

He gently pushed my hair off my shoulder, then cupped my face in his strong hands. “This is something you need to experience on your own. Your love for Carrie and the bond you share is what will bring you strength and will aid you on this journey.”

“But--” I wanted to say there had to be a way, but he placed his finger on my lips.

“I’m not going to abandon you.” It was a fierce promise that made my stomach flip. “I’m going to leave you in here to cast the circle and do your magic. In the meantime, I’m going to fall asleep on a mat outside this room.”

I gave him a funny look. How could he sleep at a time like this? Why would he?

“This room is soundproof, so feel free to be as loud as you want. I won’t hear a thing.” Still cradling my face, he softly kissed my lips. “I’m going to sleep because if you need help, all you’ll have to do is think about me, and I’ll be there.”

“How do you know if it’ll work?” I asked, hearing the doubt in my voice.

“To be honest, I don’t,” he admitted. “But with you being a skeleton key, I’m betting on you.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Here’s the thing, Paige,” he said. “I’m giving you two hours. If you’re not awake by then, I’m waking you up. I’m going to call Tree to inform him about what’s going down. I’ll tell him to call me at a certain time to make sure I don’t sleep over our allotted timeframe.” I must have had a scared, nervous look on my face because his arms went back around me. “I wish I could be there with you, and it kills me I can’t. Just remember though, love is the most powerful thing in the universe. It’s why you’re here . . . I believe in you.”

It was funny. Not ha, ha, funny, but weirdly funny. A few weeks ago, I’d longed to hear those words from Nathan, but now I wished he were back to the way he used to be–at least at this moment. His belief in me meant a lot, but honestly, I wasn’t sure if I believed in myself enough to take this leap. However, I had no choice because Carrie might be suffering right now, and I’d be damned if I was going to chicken out. Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

Um, well, I didn’t really know and that was the root of the problem right there . . . I didn’t know.

Silently, I instructed myself not to think or dwell on it and began a mantra, telling myself I could do this.

I had to believe it.

I had to believe in myself because I might be Carrie’s only hope.

Chapter Eight

Paige

After Nathan gave me a passionate kiss that made me weak in the knees and then left the room, I sat on the couch and went back over the instructions in the
Book of Shadows
. I didn’t really have to because when I looked at it earlier, my immortal mind had already absorbed all the information I needed. But I did it anyway . . . for comfort I think. Or maybe I was stalling. Taking a deep breath, I set the book down. Nathan had given me only two hours to do this, so I’d better get on it.

I stepped into the circle and immediately felt a change in temperature. It was much warmer inside this barrier, and I felt at peace, like I had the last time I sat inside it.

Weird, but cool.

I lit the candles, welcoming each element as I did so. After I dipped the point of the Athame into the bowl of salt, I raised it in front of me and said, “Let all malignity and hindrance be cast aside, and let all good enter herein. I bless thee that thou aides me, in the names of Cernunos and Aradia.” Pointing the tip of the knife down, from north back to north, I went around the perimeter. “I conjure thee oh circle of power that thou be a place of love and truth, a shield against wickedness and evil, and a boundary between the world of men and the realms of the mighty ones. I bless thee and consecrate thee in the names of Cernunos and Aradia.”

I set the Athame down, lit the incense sticks that were in an ornately carved holder and waved it in the air, the thick smell of sandalwood engulfing me. Afterward, I picked up the shiny copper bowl, pinched the granules between my forefinger and thumb and then scattered salt from east back to east again. When I finished, I faced that direction with the Athame back in my hand and raised it. Making a sign of a star in the air before me, I said in a commanding voice, “Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the east. Ye Lords of air. I do summon, stir, and call ye up to guard my circle.” Turning to the south, then west, I did the same routine as the first, except I used the element representing each one: fire for south and water for west. When I reached north, again I made the sign of the star before me and said, “Ye Lords of the Watchtowers of the north. Ye Lords of earth. Boreas, thou Guardian of the northern portals. Thou powerful God. I summon, stir, and call ye up to guard my circle. So mote it be.” I kissed the tip of the knife before placing it beside the incense on the eastern part of the circle.

The candles flickered and danced around in their short crystal containers, as if a draft sailed through them. The hair on my arms rose when I noticed the incense smoke twisting and whipping around the edges of the barrier. Taking another deep breath, I sat in the middle, lotus style and closed my eyes, concentrating on turning the lights off. Half a minute later, an instant buzz of energy swirled through me when the shadow behind my eyelids grew darker. I knew then the lights went out, and the high I was feeling came from its energy that transferred into me.

Crap.

Maybe I shouldn’t have done that because I might be too wired to go into a meditative state.

Crap . . . crap . . . crap.

Sighing, I lifted my hair off my shoulders. I had to at least try and subdue this wiry energy because I didn’t have much time. I switched positions, deciding to lie on my back and took deep, cleansing breaths. In through the nose. Out the mouth. Eyes closed. In through the nose. Out the mouth.

Slow.

Calm.

Breaths.

One by one, I concentrated on relaxing each part of my limbs while slowly breathing. The incense entombed my body in its thick, heady aroma, lending assistance in the unseen layer of transcendence.

As each muscle relaxed, the energy inside me became docile, cuing me to focus on Carrie and nothing else.

My mind flipped through memories of her like flash cards, daring to be recognized and answered by Carrie herself. It called to her, and at the same time I realized I could no longer feel my body. I sat up and looked around. The circle around the pentagram was glowing a beautiful lavender color.

Huh.

The candles were still flickering, the incense still burning. I rose, thinking, okay cool, some magic was going on here. Awesome. At least I’d accomplished casting a circle and providing protection from outside malevolent forces. But now what? Then, something at the edge of my vision caught my attention. I turned, my gaze moving to the figure on the floor.

Holy crap!

The figure was me!

What the hell?

As soon as the realization came that I was out of my body and in the spiritual realm, I immediately thought of Carrie, knowing I had to reach her before my two hours were up.

The walls began to spin, briefly showing different landscapes: a meadow like the one I’d seen before my grandmother left me, a village nestled among emerald green hills, houses with thatched roofs, horses running wild in a vast prairie shimmering in gold, a coliseum much like the one in Rome but new and constructed out of white marble.

“Carrie!” I yelled when the scenery wouldn’t stop. “Where are you?”

The spinning reversed, then accelerated at a rapid pace. Globs of gray and black colors and an occasional bolt of lightning whipped around me. Finally, it stopped, and my stomach lurched at the dismal scenery it now displayed.

The dark, clear sky shined and glistened, reminding me of black ice. A dirt road led to a town that appeared abandoned, and there were fires burning inside large trash cans along the side of the trail.

I closed my eyes. “Carrie,” I whispered, calling up a wonderful memory from our childhood of us playing in our tree house, seeing it in my mind. A cool breeze swept across my arms, raising goose bumps. How I could feel this in my spiritual form, I didn’t know. All I could figure was because I remained attached to my body, I somehow could experience it.

When I opened my eyes, I gasped. Before me stood a shabby wooden building. Orange light flickered behind the cracked, smudged windows, and I could hear somebody softly crying on the other side of a crooked plank door. My heart squeezed at the heartbreaking sound.

“Carrie?” I rushed through the door. A pungent, sour smell slapped me in the face and lodged in my throat. Covering my mouth and nose with my hand, I looked about. It was a small room crusted in dirt and garbage. The fractured windows had streaks caked with some type of black residue, and the candles standing on broken shelves flickered wildly, casting eerie, ghostly shadows. Something rolled across the room. It sounded like glass. It knocked against my foot. I looked down, baffled. It was a clear, amber bottle.

The crying coming from the back room turned to whimpering. I hurried down the short hall, my feet crunching broken glass. Along the walls hung grimy fluted glass containers housing lit candles. The flames blinked at me compulsively, shedding a tunnel of pale light.

“Carrie?”

I entered a room, immediately taken aback. It looked exactly like Carrie’s bedroom, except for the round, wooden medieval looking type doors. There must have been at least a dozen of them looming around the walls, daring to be opened.

Then I saw her.

She was in a fetal position in the center of her bed, still whimpering, her arms around her head.

I went to her and gently shook her arm. “Carrie. It’s Paige.”

“Paige?” She looked up, tears streaming down her face. I thought I was going to bawl right there but was able to swallow back the sorrow. “Omigod! Are you really here?” She sat up and threw her arms around me. “It is you.” She shook from the sobs wracking her body.

“Shhhh. It’s okay. I’m here to help you.” I rocked her, holding her tight.

She released me and clutched her head with both hands, a painful expression held on her face. “But how?” she managed to say.

“The rite of consciousness and casting a circle, but I don’t--” I paused, watching her closely. “What’s wrong?”

Her face twisted in agony. “My head hurts really bad,” she moaned. “And I don’t understand where I am or what’s going on. Is this a nightmare I’m stuck in?”

I quickly explained what happened, including the details of the procedure the doctor performed and being induced in a coma. We were both shivering, so I pulled her brown and pink butterfly comforter over us. To my surprise, she didn’t freak out about her situation. In fact, she admitted to hearing people talking around her but thought she imagined it. She sounded relieved when she told me now she understood she wasn’t going nuts.

But then she slung her arms around her head again and cried out in pain. She rested her forehead on the bed and whimpered. I’d never felt so helpless in my entire life. I curled my body over Carrie’s, like a soldier shielding a friend from incoming fire.

My mind searched for solutions. Pippin and I hadn’t conceived the possibility Carrie would be in too much pain for me to eradicate Aosoth’s memories through hypnotic suggestion. So now what was I supposed to do? I had no idea where we were, why Carrie was here, or how much time I had left. All I knew was I had to do something to try to free Carrie from this self-induced hell hole.

Wait a minute . . .

Self-induced?

Was she creating this experience for some reason? But why would she do that?

I sat up. “Carrie, what were--”

“I can’t take this anymore, Paige. I need to get out of here for a while.” Carrie hopped off the bed and headed toward one of the wooden doors across the room. She was crying in a way that told me it wasn’t out of pain but fear and dread.

I grabbed her arm. “What’s behind these doors?”

She looked at me, her face wet with tears. “Aosoth’s memories.”

Chapter Nine

Paige

At first I couldn’t believe those doors led to Aosoth’s memories. I mean, how could it be? But then again, glancing around the exact replica of Carrie’s bedroom, minus the imposing doors, I guess it could be possible. Regardless, though, I had to express my doubts. “Are you serious?” I eyed Carrie incredulously.

Carrie nodded and turned to the one in front of us. She tried to pull away from me, anxious to reach it.

I tightened my grip on her arm. “Why are you doing this?”

She continued to jerk her arm back, panic filling her voice. “I have to, Paige. It’s the only way to stop my head from hurting, and I feel like the walls are pressing in on me. I–I can’t breathe.” She gasped for air, making sharp sucking noises.

I yanked her to me and took hold of her arms. She curled forward, still gasping.

“Stop it.” I pulled her up and held her face in my hands. Despite the chill in the air, her forehead glistened with sweat. “I need to figure out a way to get rid of Aosoth’s memories, and you freaking out is not helping the situation.” I hated seeing her like this, but truthfully, she was annoying me. I didn’t know how much time I had left, and with her spazzing out, I couldn’t think straight. The thought I had a minute ago escaped me, and Carrie’s behavior was totally stressing me.

“Please,” she begged. “Just for a few minutes.” She dropped to her knees and held her head in her hands, crying and hyperventilating.

I sighed, and my breath materialized in a cloud of vapor from the sudden drop in temperature. A distant roaring filled the room, and the trinkets on Carrie’s shelves rattled. The rumbling was quickly gaining speed. Pictures flapped against the wall, the trinkets crashing to the floor. The room began to shake, swaying me. Carrie hopped to her feet and grabbed my hand. I was too stunned to resist.

“What’s happening?” I asked above the harsh screeching of metal grinding against metal. Her hand felt like an ice cube.