“Harry I need you.”
Before the swirling chaos consumed her she felt a pang of loss at the distant words.
At least someone did.
Was she dead? The last thing she’d remembered she was falling through a transport portal, and now she was walking up the aisle toward the altar of a church, its plain wooden pews and stark decoration making it all the more intimidating and austere. It was a perfect backdrop for the severe, judgmental faces of the hawk-eyed men who watched her moving closer.
She clutched her skirts, feeling her magic welling inside her, sparking at her fingertips. It was demanding its freedom to protect her, but she kept it tightly reigned in. If they saw…if they knew…she would lose her chance to escape this bloodthirsty jury. Lose her chance to live without hiding. Running.
“Harry? Harry, how did you get here?”
Lorie? Harrison turned her head and saw her brother crouching behind one of the pews, shock filling his expression. Seeing him jolted her out of the daze she was in. For a moment her thoughts hadn’t felt like her own. She’d been afraid. Terrified.
Harrison took a slow breath. “Lawrence Abbott, where the heck are we? Why do you keep calling me and where are your glasses?”
Her brother shook his head, his long, dirty blond curls matted, blue eyes wild. He looked like he’d been through Hell. And he wasn’t that happy to see her.
Lorie leapt out from his hiding place, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down the aisle, toward the open church doors and out into the darkness. “I don’t have time for questions. I was trying to get someone to help me out of here, not join me. It’s a good thing I was inside the church, or you’d be judged by now. How did you get in?”
“In?” What was he talking about? “The last thing I remember I was in Argentina.”
“Wait—what?”
“Great brother you are. Didn’t you know I ran away to be human? That I’ve been in hiding for the last three months, obviously not very well because I was recently kidnapped. Kidnapped, nearly killed, then unkidnapped, all without my permission. But at least I knew where I was.” She noticed the people milling about, whispering nervously to each other, and noticed how they were all dressed. “Or should I say, I knew when I was. Lorie, what have you gotten yourself into?”
“Maybe getting here scrambled your brain.” Lorie sighed, dragging her along behind him as they walked through the dirt street, his head down. “I reached out to you because you have the most power in the family. Just like our ancestor, the one I was looking up when this happened. But you didn’t come to the library to find me. You don’t have any idea, do you? Is no one in the family looking for me?”
Harrison was fascinated by the scene unfolding around her. This looked like…but it couldn’t be. “You? I thought you were with them, looking for me. Lorie, are we in—”
“You ran away, then? Conway used to try and bet me that you would. I didn’t think you had it in you. Well, you’re no help to me now.” The crowd was getting larger, their mutterings a gathering storm that made Harrison nervous.
Her brother’s disjointed speaking she was used to. Rabid Puritans, not so much.
Lorie took her shoulders in a tight grip and shook her. “I’m fine. At least, I’ll be fine. You need to get out of here. Go find Con and the two of you can discover a way for her to get out. She can’t escape the way we can. She’s trapped here. And I won’t leave without her.”
“I’m confused.” Understatement, but first things first. “Our ancestor? Who are you talking about? And how do I get out of here if I don’t know how I got here to begin with?”
“I saw the portal. It’s illegal, but this is an emergency. Call it back and focus on getting to Conway.”
“Thou shall not suffer a witch to live!” One of the men from the church was striding out the door toward them, the crowd jumping respectfully and swiftly out of his way.
“Now, that doesn’t sound good.”
Lorie swore beneath his breath. “It isn’t. These bastards don’t feel right unless they’ve burned at least one witch a day before dinner. Costumes and time periods keep changing but it’s still the same assholes doing it whatever they’re wearing. It hurts like a son of a bitch, too, but you get used to it.”
To being burned? “Lorie, you’re freaking me out. I really hope I have a concussion. Or that you’re exaggerating. Maybe Jacob’s sister really did kill me after all.”
Lorie shook her. “You’re not making sense. Create the portal. Now, Harry. I need you.”
She repeated the phrase she’d heard the elders, heard Jacob utter and felt a rush of adrenaline roar through her veins as it appeared. “Come with me, Lorie.”
He stepped back, allowing himself to be swallowed up by the now bloodthirsty masses. “Don’t worry about me. I can’t be killed here. Not permanently. Find Conway. Tell him I’ve found our match.”
An old woman with no teeth and a dangerous looking garden hoe came after her and Harrison ducked, losing her balance and falling once more into the bedamned portal. She hated this thing. It kept taking her away from the people she loved.
Chapter Seven
“I thought we were going to run away together. Wasn’t that the original plan?”