Chapter Eleven

Emira

I walk towards the shore, towards the crowd of witches waiting for us. The water's surface acts like concrete under my feet. As soon as we reach the shore, the witches surge forwards and start peppering us with questions.

"Hanna!" Luna calls and Hanna steps up in front of us. She raises her arms and her golden magic seeps out and falls over the crowd. Instantly they fall quiet. "Thank you, Hanna. Now, I know that you all have questions. And we don't have time to answer all of them. But all you need to know now is that we are setting in a couple of new rules. One, we are putting up a protective barrier around the coven. And two, no one is to go anywhere alone. Now everyone needs to go home now. We will have a meeting tomorrow morning." Luna turns back to look at the Fifteen. "That includes us as well." Everyone nods and starts to walk away in groups. I pull Luna to the side.

"I'm going to stay here and put up a barrier. Then I'll head home. I promise." Before Luna can protest, a warm arm wraps around my waist.

"Don't worry Luna, I'll make sure she gets home alright." Kal's deep voice says from next to me. I smile at him and see Luna nod out of the corner of my eye before she walks away to join her husband. Kal claps his hands together and smiles at me. "Now, how do you want to put the barrier up? And more importantly, where do you want me?" I take his hand.

"Next to me, forever." I say and his eyes sparkle.

"Well, that's a given. How about now though?" I roll my eyes and walk to the waterline. I slip off my sandals and walk into the water. Though I can walk on the water, the feel of the water is relaxing.

"I am going to place the strongest protection barrier that I can think of." I say over my shoulder. "Fair warning, I am going to, uh, channel a lot of magic."

"Meaning?" Worry creeps into Kal's voice.

"Meaning, glowing hair, skin, and pink eyes. Like when I walked through the barrier."

"Great. Cause I just love seeing you like that." The sarcasm in his voice is palpable.

"Don't worry, it is perfectly safe. Just watch my back." I don't give him the time to argue. I raise my arms and start to chant in our ancient language. I call upon the Goddess and ask her to lend me the strength to pull off this spell. I throw my head back as the Goddess' magic slams into me. I can feel my body reacting to it. My hair glows like a halo around me and my eyes turn full of pink. The magic coursing through my veins is overwhelming. My feet leave the ground as I finish the spell. A barrier forms in front of me, I can feel it stretch and circle the coven. My feet slowly return to the ground as I release the magic and it leaves with such force that my knees buckle. Strong arms catch me and pull me against the incredibly warm chest of Kal.

"'Don't worry' you said 'perfectly safe' you said. Sure." He mutters as he holds me as I regain my balance. "Are you okay?"

"Kal, I am fine."

"You sure? I mean, that didn't take too much out of you? You should sit down." He all but carries me to a dry patch of sand.

"Kal." I say, trying to get his attention. He ignores me and forces me down onto the sand. "Kal!" I say more forcefully and he looks me in the eye. "Talk to me. What's going on?" He sighs and hangs his head, his hair falling over his face. I cup his face with my hands and force him to look at me.

"I-I failed." He whispers.

"What?" I gasp.

"I couldn't protect you. I didn't protest the spell enough. I let you go through with it. I held you, you were so fragile. I left you alone. I-"

"Kal." I interrupt the flow of words flooding out of his mouth. "You did not fail. It was my choice to perform the memory spell. I chose that. And it hurt. I wish that I didn't have to do it, but I didn't see any other way. I am so sorry that I had to leave you." I lean my head against his forehead and whisper. "I'm so sorry Kal." He holds my arms and pulls me against him. We sit like that for a while. Holding each other. Realization finally sets in. I'm home. Tears of joy fall down my cheeks. Kal sees them and wipes them away with the pad of his thumb. I can read the message in his eyes. He won't say anything until I am ready. My heart overflows with love for this guy. I love his sea-green eyes and his sun-kissed skin. I love his silky soft black hair. I love his soft lips. I love him. I open my mouth to tell him so, but a loud screech cuts me off. A large black figure lands on the beach, not a stone's throw away from us. It is taller than a house, with beady red eyes and razor-sharp teeth that are as long as my forearm. Kal pulls me up and we stand shoulder to shoulder as we face the demon. It roars at us and spreads its huge dark black wings. The horrible stench of death hangs around the demon. Kal holds out his hand and calls his sword to him. The obsidian blade sings through the air and slams into his palm. My magic swirls around my hands, begging to be let loose. But before I can attack, another screech comes from behind us. I spin around and find another demon facing us. A third and a fourth screech fills the air as two more demons land on each side of us.

"Em." Kal says calmly. "Call the others. We need help." I nod. Without taking my eyes off of the demon in front of me, I open my mind to the members of the Fifteen. Guys! Help! Kal and I are on the beach! We are surrounded by demons! Just then the demon on our right opens its mouth and shoots fire at us. Kal and I dive in different directions. A wall of fire separating us. "You okay?" Kal yells. A stinging burn comes from my right arm. The fire burned me.

"Mad, but okay! You?" I yell back. He grunts back. Guess he's okay. I jump up and thrust my arms towards the one who breathed fire. My magic flies out of me in waves and slams into the demon. It is thrown back and lands with a large splash in the water and disappears in a burst of red dust. I turn just in time to find Kal in a two on one battle with the demons. He is largely outmatched. Kal is good, but I don't know how long he can last. A waist-high wall of fire still separates us. A deep guttural growl escapes me as I march towards Kal and the demons. I slice with my hand in front of me and the fire dies. I walk over the sand and hold my arms out towards the demons. They freeze, my pink magic wraps around them. Kal turns to me and he looks me over, checking for injuries. I do the same. He has a small scrape on his arm, no doubt from when we threw ourselves onto the sand. But other than that, he looks fine. His long wavy hair hangs in his face, framing his sea-green eyes. In their reflection, I can see my own eyes blazing with power and glowing brightly. Returning my gaze to the demons, I start to squeeze my hands into fists. Before I can dissolve them, Kal tackles me to the ground. I land with a graceless umff, Kal lying on top of me. A burst of fire burns the air where I was just standing. The second that the flames stop we jump to our feet and stand back to back against the remaining three monsters who have circled around us. An arrow sings through the air and lands in the neck of one of the demons. It collapses into dust upon impact, to reveal the Fifteen running towards us with weapons and magic at the ready. The demons screech and breathe fire at our friends. Natsuko cries out and throws her arms forwards and takes control of the fire. The fire dances around her and she redirects it towards one of the demons. The demon ducks and charges towards her. I throw my arm in a slicing motion in front of me and my magic arcs into the demon, cutting it down seconds before it reaches Natsu. One left. Stella throws her spear and it lodges into the demon's back. It explodes into red dust and Stella catches her spear as if nothing happened. She marches over to me and throws her arms around my shoulders.

"Honestly Em!" She sighs. "Second day back and you get into a fight with four demons!" I chuckle and return her hug. She pulls away and looks me up and down. Her golden eyes stick on my arm. I look over and see the burn running from my shoulder to my elbow. She reaches out to touch it. Her fingers just barely touch my arm and I hiss through clenched teeth. She frowns. "Let's get you home and create a salve for that." I smile at her protectiveness and nod. I turn to Kal and the rest of the Fifteen.

"Thanks for coming so fast." Kal says. Eddie smiles and salutes us.

"Of course! But, girl, you are loud! My head's still ringing!" He taps his head and winces.

"Sorry Ed, it's been a while." I chuckle. My dad walks up next to me and puts his large hand on my shoulder.

"I believe that that has been enough excitement for one day, everyone go home and rest up. Meeting tomorrow morning." In a collective mass, we head to the street in the middle of White Cove, where all of the Fifteen live. We all split into our own homes and I go with my family into a two-story white picket fence house. Mom opens the dark wooden door and lets us in. The familiar creaks of the floor flood my head with memories. Stella grabs my hand and pulls me past the white kitchen and into a room with walls filled to the brim with different herbs and concoctions. She sits me down on a stool and flutters around the room, grabbing different bottles. She places them all on a wooden desk in the middle of the room. She takes all of the bottles and mixes their contents in a pestle and mortar until it becomes a yellow paste.

"Give me your arm." Her voice is firm as she holds out her hand. I roll my eyes at her but comply nonetheless. She smiles satisfied and starts to lather the paste over my burns. The magical healing properties of the paste start to work on my burns.

"You've gotten good at this, twin." I say. She smirks.

"Well, having a twin sister who runs headfirst into danger and always comes out with at least a scratch makes a wonderful motivator." I scoff at her reply.

"Touche." We sit in silence and Stella continues to work on my arm. She finishes the treatment with a healing incantation. The paste dries and immediately disappears, taking the burn with it. "Thanks twin."

"Don't worry about it." She puts the paste away and claps her hands, arching an eyebrow at me. "Now, mom's making her famous chili and I believe that it is dinner time."

"Twin, you had me at chili."

"Race ya?"

"You're on." I jump off the chair and rush out of the room with Stella on my heels. We giggle ecstatically as we rush through the white furnished living room and nearly bowl over Alex as we enter the kitchen at the exact same time.

"I win!" We both yell at the same time. Dad stands behind mom and laughs.

"You two are special. And way too competitive for your own good." We erupt into laughter and join our family by the dinner table. Time flies and we spend the rest of the evening catching up and enjoying the time together. Late into the night, Stella and I sit in our room and just talk. Our twin beds are on opposite sides of the room with a bay window dividing us. But Stella sits with me in my bed. My pink comforter wrapped around our shoulders and her golden one spread across our laps. The bed is too small for two people, but Stella and I just fit together like two parts of a whole. Like twins. I smile at the thought and snuggle closer to her. After a year apart I needed this.

"I'm so glad that you are back, Em." Neither of us has said anything in the past thirty minutes, so Stella's whisper catches me off guard.

"Me too, Stells." I whisper back.

"How's your arm?" She asks. I smirk and glance over at my arm.

"Completely burn free, thanks to your expertise." She scoffs and gently wacks my arm.

"Please be more careful though, I'm terrified that there is going to be an injury that I can't heal." I can hear the fear in her voice and squeeze her hand.

"I will, I promi-" A sharp pain in my neck stops me. I place my hand on my neck and feel the tip of a feathered dart. Stella looks at me and then the same dart flies into her neck. Our movements turn sluggish and slow. We fall back onto the bed as two dark figures move in through our open window, they wear masks that cover their faces. As they move towards us I can see the same tattoos that the Salem Coven has on their foreheads. I try to yell, but no sound comes out. I can't even use my telepathy. My vision starts to blur as I watch one of the figures grab Stella. The other reaches for me and pulls out yet another dart. The figure injects it into my neck and this time there is no fighting it. Darkness beckons me and my eyes close as I'm being lifted from the bed and pulled into unconsciousness.