Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
God, I sound ridiculous. But it’s true—he was mine and now he’s gone.
Harmony squeezed my hand.
"I’m so sorry—you should have said something," she murmured.
I shook my head.
"There’s nothing to say. I just hope I can get him back."
"You will," she promised, and I wanted—desperately—to believe her.
"All right, now that we all know what we’re doing, let’s call the circle," Goody Albright said, lifting the candle.
She closed her eyes and raised her face to the night. The moon, round and silver, hovered just above the rooftops, and the stars overhead sparkled like diamond dust on black velvet.
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East—Powers of Air and Invention—hear us!" Goody Albright’s voice was powerful and sure.
Sarah picked up the chant next.
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West—Powers of Water and Intuition—hear us!"
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South—Powers of Fire and Feeling—hear us," Celia intoned.
Goldie finished.
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North—Powers of Mother Earth—hear our plea tonight."
As she spoke, the white candle in Goody A’s hands sparked to life, the flame curling up like a serpent, catching fire without even a match.
Goody Albright nodded. "So mote it be—the circle is sealed. Now for the spell for renewing the town’s protective bubble. Repeat after me, please."
She chanted:
By moonlight bright and witches true,
We bind our town with magic new.
No darkness enter, no evil stay,
Let light and love protect our way.
We all repeated the lines, voices mingling in the cool night air. As the final word left our lips, the sky overhead exploded in light.
I gasped and looked up in surprise. What in the world?
What I saw almost made me smile.
Magical fireworks burst through the night sky in arcs of color—shimmering golds…rich purples…glittering blues—they all formed protective symbols and runes before dissolving into sparkling mist that rained down on our heads with the sweet scent of cinnamon and cloves. I gasped and ducked instinctively before Harmony leaned over and whispered,
"Don’t worry. It’s just the bubble renewing itself."
The light show went on and on, leaving me breathless. It was better than any Fourth of July display I’d ever seen, but finally, the sky went still. The last sparkles fell silently like enchanted snow and dissolved when they hit the ground.
"The bubble is renewed for another year. At this point, we would normally disperse," Goody Albright said. "But as I mentioned before, we have a second order of business. We must call a door to the Shadow Lands. Please repeat after me."
She began the chant:
Veil of shadow, thin and wide,
Open now and part the tide.
Call the one we seek tonight,
Bring him through by love’s true light.
We echoed her, our voices rising together. As we chanted, something began to stir in me. A tingling sensation deep in my chest—like something old and long-buried was waking up.
Is this my magic? Is it finally answering me?
I didn’t know but the feeling kept getting stronger and stronger until it felt like my whole body was humming with some invisible power. The air in the center of the circle shimmered, but nothing else happened. For a long moment, I thought it wasn’t working—that my love wasn’t strong enough.
That I’d failed.
Then—
A swirling shadow appeared in the very center of the circle. It widened and lengthened, until a massive black door loomed there, framed in mist and light.
I stared, wide-eyed. My heart was beating like a wild thing in my chest. The door—it had worked! That must be the door to the Shadow Lands!
Goody Albright turned to me, her face grave.
"Well, go on, my dear,” she said. “This door is for you. If you can’t open it, no one can."
40
DANNI
I took a deep breath, trying to steady the trembling in my hands, and stepped into the center of the circle.
From all around me, the other witches—my new friends—murmured encouragement, their voices like a breeze rustling the colored leaves underfoot. The massive door stood tall in the center of Main Street, as dark and mysterious as the Shadow Lands themselves.
Its surface shimmered with shifting shadows, the wood dark and oiled—almost alive. Its brass knob gleamed in the moonlight—old-fashioned, ornate, and carved with strange runes that looked like they might rearrange themselves when you weren't watching.
What if this doesn’t work? What if I open it and he’s not there… or worse, what if something else is?
I swallowed my fear and gripped the knob with one hand, the metal cold and smooth beneath my palm. I twisted it hard.
Nothing.
The door didn’t even budge.
Frowning, I tried again, twisting with all my might—still nothing. What was I doing wrong?
"I… I can't open it." My voice cracked, and I bit my lip to keep from crying.
I can’t fail now—not when I’ve come this far. Oh, please…please!
“Be calm, my dear,” Goody Albright said gently from behind me. “Pour your feelings into the knob. Think of Shadow—how you love him, how you long for him. Pour all those emotions through your arm and into the knob as you twist it.”