Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two (36 page)

“I know.”

“Not Patrick.”

Nathan pulled her closer and she cried into his shoulder.

Patrick looked at the sky. Night had fallen, but the sky stayed orange. It looked as if the entire world were burning. But Caroline’s cloaking spell had managed to protect them. The air continued to have that still, empty, seasonless quality. The fire couldn’t burn them, but it could light up the night. Keep the day burning on forever.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

Patrick flinched at the sound of his brother’s voice. The fire had distracted them, and Patrick had a moment of peace. He sat on the ground, leaning up against the side of the house.

Patrick didn’t respond, so Jude kneeled in front of him.

“That’s because of you, you know,” Jude said, and he gestured toward the sky. “If you hadn’t shown up, we all would have died in the fire. But with your magic, Caroline is even stronger now. The concealment spell was powerful before, but not like this. Right now she’s working on strengthening the perimeter, but it looks like it’s going to hold. It’s fucking incredible. Did you know a large wildfire can cause hurricane force winds?”

“That’s fascinating. Did your girlfriend tell you that?”

“She did, actually.”

Patrick’s mouth felt dry and it tasted of dirt. He needed water, but he refused to ask his brother for it.

“She’s amazing,” Jude said. “If she can stop a wildfire, with three out of four of the events. With spring, she’ll be able to do anything. Absolutely anything.”

Jude smiled at him with perfect white teeth. He hardly looked familiar. Something about him had shifted. He’d always been evil. He’d always been crazy. But now he seemed happy, which made him seem more evil and crazy than ever.

“Oh, yeah. She’s amazing. I
really
like her. Can I please be best man at your wedding?”

“I know you’re being sarcastic. But I would love it if you would be best man at my wedding.”

“Do you not understand what’s happening here? You and your girlfriend have kidnapped and tortured three people. You are not going to live happily ever after, you are going to
go to jail
. And that’s if you’re lucky. I’d like to see you both avoid getting murdered. Because you’ve pissed off a lot of powerful wizards.”

“Well, we’ve managed to avoid getting murdered so far. These so-called powerful wizards are doing a terrible,
terrible
job at taking down one witch.”

“You gave Mom cancer. Or, was it Caroline’s spell? A distraction so she could take Evangeline.”

Jude’s face darkened, or maybe his eyes sparkled less. He stood back.

“That was an accident. It’s wasn’t Caroline. She wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh, sure. What was I thinking? Caroline wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Caroline is going to save Mom’s life. That’s better than anything you can do for her.”

“What?”

“With the power of all the seasons, she can do anything.
Anything
. And saving Mom is the first thing she’s going to do.”

“Is that how she explained all this to you? I mean, I know you’re a horrible person, but some part of you had to be at least a little annoyed when you found out your girlfriend had taken your sister and brother as her personal playthings and didn’t even tell you about it. So, that’s what she said right? Oh, no, Jude, it’s okay. I’m only doing it to save your Mommy.”

Jude kicked him in the chest. After going through the worst pain of his life, Patrick could handle the pain of the kick. But he hated the way it took his breath and rattled his heart in his ribs. He coughed until his coughing turned into a strange wheezy laughter that didn’t sound like him.

“That is what she said, isn’t it?” Patrick asked with a hoarse voice. “That’s exactly what happened. She is so good at playing you, isn’t she?”

“I don’t have to defend my relationship to you.”

Patrick laughed again. He didn’t know why he laughed, and he knew he sounded crazy. He probably
had
gone crazy.

“That’s fine,” Jude said. “Enjoy yourself now, because Caroline will be back soon.”

vangeline kicked at the wooden panels along the side of the foundation. She had tried magic too, and it would have worked if Caroline had been a Mundane, or even a lesser witch, but she must have cast a spell to keep them here. She needed to get closer to try a killing spell. Since she’d never done it before, she needed proximity, concentration, and minimal distractions—and she didn’t know how she would manage that. But now she had a new reason to fight.

Evangeline gave up on the trap door and crawled over to Julie. She just lay there. Evangeline touched her arm and she shuddered. Like Evangeline, Julie had old scars. She knew nothing other than a life of being tortured by her sister. And Evangeline knew how that felt. The person seemed so big. They were the whole world, and there was nothing before or after them. Just them. And just pain.

“It’s just me,” Evangeline said. “I need you to help me. Did you hear that?”

Julie didn’t respond. It was too dark to see much of her face. But she glowed less, which meant Caroline glowed more.

“Did you hear it?” Evangeline asked again. “I can’t tell if it’s in my mind, or if it’s real.”

“What?”

“Screaming. Someone screaming.”

“Yes. I think it’s me.” She had really lost it.

“No, no, it’s not you,” she said patiently. “It’s a guy.” Evangeline had the sick feeling she knew him, she recognized his energy, but she couldn’t tell for sure. She was too far away.

“I know,” Julie said. “Not me. But I’m with him. He has a piece of me.”

“Please, Julie, you have to focus. It’s important. If someone else it out there, then she’s found another one. An equinox wizard. That’s really bad…I’m scared I know who it is.”

“Who?”

Evangeline didn’t want to say it out loud. That would make it more true. “I don’t know…What did you mean, when you said he had a piece of you?”

Julie didn’t respond.

Evangeline grabbed her and shook her. “You said it. What did you mean?”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry. It just feels like that.”

“Maybe he does.” Evangeline touched the spot in her pocket where her rock should have been. Caroline had taken it from her. “Your talisman. The bracelet.”

“How did you know about my talisman?” Julie sounded more lucid now. She sat up. In the dim light, Evangeline thought she saw her rub her wrist where the bracelet should be.

“My sister found it. We have it.”

Julie sniffed. “I thought I had lost it forever. You have it?”

“Maybe…maybe, now it’s here. Maybe my brother brought it with him.”

“You think it’s your brother, the one screaming?” She paused. “I’m sorry.”

“I know we’ve already tried different spells together and it hasn’t worked, but if we had Patrick too…”

“But we don’t.”

“He’s not that far. We can still give him our magic.”

“You know him. You can lock on to his energy. I can’t.”

“He has your talisman. That’s not his energy, it’s yours. Can you find that?”

Julie grew quiet. Evangeline couldn’t see her face well enough to see any expression.

“Maybe,” she said.

“All we have to do is try. If it doesn’t work, we won’t be any worse off.”

“I’m too weak.”

“You’re not weak.
You’re the light herself
.” Evangeline said, spitting the words at her. She wanted to shake her again.

Julie expelled a breath that sounded like either a laugh or a sob.

“I know that’s not how you feel,” Evangeline said before Julie could say anything else. “But it’s a trick. Caroline made you feel small. And you can believe it if you want, but it doesn’t make it true. She’s some random fall witch. You’re the
sun
. Caroline wants to watch you burn. Well, why don’t you let her? Show her how you can burn.”

Julie stayed quiet, so Evangeline continued, “He can use our magic. I’ve seen him use mine. If he had the power of light and dark at once, he could use it. He could make the forces work together in ways we can’t. We’re too much. Too dark. Too light. We need him. I promise our spells will work better if he wields them.”

Evangeline knew she lied. Well, not lied exactly, but she didn’t feel as certain as she sounded. The only time she’d tried to give him her magic, it had overcome him. She believed he could do it, but he had no idea how to do it, and had no one to teach him. And right now, he probably felt weaker than ever.

“I want to see him. I can do it if I see him.”

“We have already tried everything to get out of here.”

“We’ve tried to get our bodies out,” Julie said. “We’ve been thinking too three-dimensionally.”

“You know a spell? Something that could make us see him?”

“If you have light, you can see.”

Evangeline would have to trust her vague statement, because this must be summer magic. She had no idea how to see through walls.

“Help me with the spell,” Julie said.

“I don’t know it.”

“Please, I can’t do it on my own.”

“Okay.” Evangeline took Julie’s hand. She was bluffing. She didn’t know the spell. She couldn’t cast it. But maybe if Julie thought she had help she would be more confident.

One way or another, it worked. Evangeline had the unsettling sensation of being two places at once. Like when each eye was seeing something different. The scene started at a super close up, and panned out, as if Julie started at the talisman and worked her way out. She saw Patrick’s legs first, and then his whole body, bound with magic to a chair. The whites of his eyes had red patches, and his lips looked too white. Whatever Caroline had done to him, he couldn’t take much more.

The scene expanded, and she could tell Julie was gaining the strength needed to bring more light to the scene. Evangeline almost dropped her hand when she saw Jude, standing next to Caroline. They both studied Patrick, consulting in whispers, as if determining their next move.
How the hell did he get there?
No wonder Caroline’s prax potentia worked so well on Patrick. Nothing sucked your power faster than being hurt by someone you loved—especially someone who was supposed to protect you.

“When?” Julie whispered. “He doesn’t look ready.”

A major understatement. “I know.”