Page 31 of The Beginning
“Where is my sister?”My voice sounded small.I hated it.
He arched his eyebrows.“Yes, Calyx.I thought, to my chagrin, that it was your sister I was after.But when Silas brought her to me, I knew instantly that she was not who I was seeking.She is a witch, like you.But you, Marigold, are the one with the power.”
“Power?”Dread was an iron ball in my stomach.It settled there and weighed me down from inside.What was he talking about?What was I doing here?
“Yes, power.Don't play coy with me, dear.I've spent many years searching for the descendants of the Original Vessel.It's such a difficult task when women marry and take their husband's names.It muddies everything.But I knew when I found your family, and found your mother in particular, that either you or Calyx held the vessel power.And I need that.So thank you for coming.”
I stopped.Frozen in place, suddenly feeling trapped.How could I have let myself get fooled so easily?I'd been lured here, into a trap.Whatever this guy was planning, it wasn't good for me.
“Where is Calyx?”
He waved a hand absently as he moved something on the altar.“Oh, your sister is fine.It's just a harmless fling.No doubt Silas will return her home in a day or two, and everything will be just fine.For her.It was necessary for Calyx to disappear for a few days in order for me to get you here.”He smiled.For a moment he almost looked kind.
He reached out a hand to me, as if I were a child and he wanted to lead me away.Suddenly I was seeing two of him, the priest in front of me and the one from my vision.
“Are you ready?”His voice was soft and smooth.
I felt myself move toward the altar, without any effort, as though I had been lifted off the ground by two invisible wings.The air around me grew very warm, and I saw something shift in the darkness to my left.
I couldn't move, couldn't do… anything.I whispered a defense spell but I didn’t feel my magic engage.What the hell was going on?
The priest blinked, and waited, his arm out and his hand open, palm up.
It was just like the vision.God, how stupid I'd been to come here.Unable to help myself, not in control,just like the damn vision, I reached my hand out to him.
The priest recoiled, stepping back against the altar.
Okay, that was new.
A mass of black fur flew out of the darkness and landed on me.The sour scent of wet dog overpowered me and I was surrounded by throaty growls and wet snarls and gripping claws.
What was this?Did the priest have this animal waiting to attack me or was he surprised too?What the hell was going on?
I spoke a freezing spell, hoping to immobilize the beast, but it was no use.My magic wasn’t working.I tried to fight the animal, free my hands, get out from under it… but it was too big.I was powerless under its weight.
The creature tore at me, and moved so quickly I could barely make out the breed.It was like a wolfhound or something, but much heftier, with thick, wiry fur.Its fluffy tail swung out to the side, curled and silver in the moonlight.
I scooted back on my hands, trying to put some distance between me and the animal.The dog shifted its weight, taking one giant paw off my chest, allowing me to get my arms out from underneath me.I managed to get to my knees.Then I pointed my hands at the dog, intending to curse it.
The animal lunged at me, throwing me to the floor again.Its jaws clamped down on my hand and shook like it was tugging on a rope.As its teeth pierced my skin a flood of power surged through my body, like a wave of fire starting at my toes and rippling up to the top of my head.Was I being drugged?Did this thing have venom?
My shoulder popped while something in my hand cracked audibly.White hot pain shot through my entire body, clouding my vision and threatening to overwhelm me.I could not pass out now.Stay awake, stay awake, stay awake!
Adrenaline surged through my veins.I rocked on my side and pulled my free hand out from under my body.I cast another hurried spell, grateful that it worked, freezing the dog’s face momentarily with a halt spell.It howled once, mouth open and sounding off kilter, and then it whimpered, as it tipped over like a stuffed animal.I scrambled backward, clumsy, scared, catching my breath, unable to comprehend what was happening.
“Marigold, wait,” the priest called.“You cannot leave!”He raised a hand, as if to stop me.
“The hell I can't,” I muttered.It felt like I was hanging onto sanity and clarity by a small thread.Everything was in front of me as though I looked through a tunnel, with the priest and the frozen dog very clear, and everything else fading the farther it got from my line of vision.In the back of it all, searing pain.
I'd never felt this way before, but I knew, somehow, that I didn't have much time.I stood up and ran from the church, through the wooden doors.I jumped down the steps and ran through the graveyard, momentarily disoriented, wondering where to go.The car.I needed to get to the car.I looked in the distance as the wind whipped my hair around my face.There.I recognized the trees by the road where I had parked.
It would be faster to cut across the field.Running through the graveyard, I grabbed the edge of one of the tombstones, and my hand exploded in pain.I pulled my hand away and looked down and saw that my ring finger was missing.I stared at it, not comprehending the empty space where my finger had been.
What the actual fuck?
My finger wasgone.
Like… gone.
