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“Why are you in here?” she asked.
“I go where the dagger is left behind, but I’ve been trapped in here ever since you were ripped away from me. The box had been sealed, and the magic kept me in it. Maybe you should just leave me in here.”
Sadie took the dagger from him, then dropped it on the floor. “I’m reckless, remember?” She crawled into the crystal box with him, and he enfolded his arms around her. “The wards seem to be holding, but I don’t know for how much longer.”
“Did you talk to Charlie or Skyler?” he asked, running a hand through her hair.
“My phone’s signal hasn’t worked all day. A cabin out in the woods … it’s expected. But I think it has something to do with the trees creating a barrier. The spirits were trapped in them during the day, but the hex or something wouldn’t let me reach the barrier.”
“Fuck. This isn’t good. If we’re both trapped here with no ability to cast a spell and can’t contact them…”
“I know.” Sadie sighed.
“If it’s them toying with you, somehow making the spirits do this, I swear I’ll—”
Sadie put her fingers to his warm lips, hushing him. “When I get a hold of them, or if they come to me, I’m going to get them to stay until midnight. To see if the veil opens up for them too. If not, we’ll somehow find a way to take care of it. With or without a spell.”
“As we always do,” he whispered.
They stayed there for hours, embracing one another, trying to cast new spells that didn’t work. If Sadie wasn’t able to get a hold of Charlie or Skyler the next day, they were going to have to gather the ingredients and herbs she had around the cabin or in the woods and try a new spell that could temporarily open the woods for her. But she feared deep down it wouldn’t pan out.
A boom shook the entire room, louder than the night before. Cracks formed, spiderwebbing along the walls. Sadie and River both jerked up, and he shoved them out of the box, then set her on her feet.
“We don’t have much time, but something else feels wrong,” River rasped, picking up the dagger and tossing it into the box away from him. “I feel a rope tugging inside me, and soon it’s going to snap in place. I don’t know how many more days I can control myself around you, my sweet nightmare.”
Two strong hands grabbed Sadie by the shoulders and shook her, yanking her away from River.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Let them hunt us if they wish, but we are the true hunters.”
Darkness surrounded Sadie, and she thrashed hysterically to escape the firm grip of whoever or whatever was shaking her by the shoulders.
“It’s me. Sadie, it’s me,” a familiar voice said.
Sadie finally got her eyes to open, her body relaxing as her gaze met Skyler’s golden-brown irises.
But then a wave crashed into her, reminding her of who Skyler could be. She tensed, squirming away from his touch. If he were truly Eben, then that meant they’d grown up as close friends in Salem, had been like siblings in every life since then. Not once had they become distant in any life, only the first, when he’d discovered what she and Jasper had been doing. Yet Eben hadn’t been with Ada that day in the woods, so Sadie wasn’t sure how he was a part of this.
“Skyler,” she whispered, gasping for air. He was dressed in his police uniform with his hair swept back.
“Oh, thank fuck,” he exhaled. “I thought you weren’t going to wake up.” His voice came out concerned, maybe even a bit frightened. She’d rarely seen him this way, only when they’d been younger and had gotten lost in the wooded park trail near his parents’ house. Ever since becoming a police officer, Skyler knew how to handle his emotions, even if that might not be how he was feeling on the inside.
“Is it morning?” Sadie asked, heading to the window, her throat dry as she spoke. She needed water. All she continued to hear was the booming of the walls, the sound of them cracking. It had been toward the end of the night, so she prayed the spirits hadn’t made it inside to River, that they were trapped back in the trees.
“It is. Charlie asked me to swing by before work. I’m sorry that it’s so early.” He blew out a breath. “She and I tried texting you a few times yesterday, and I was going to come here, but there were several emergencies. Also, please never leave your door unlocked, especially when you’re sleeping.”
“I’ll lock it next time,” she answered, pushing back the curtain of the window to look outside. The trees barrier remained there, yet Skyler’s police car was inside.
“Charlie wanted me to tell you she’s stopping by to cook dinner later today since you weren't texting her back.”
A pit formed in Sadie’s stomach, even though this was what she was waiting for, to come face to face with Charlie, but a part of her wanted to deny it, go back to remembering her sister as she was. If she was, in fact, Ada, Sadie would have to contain herself from bringing a blade to her sister’s throat. She needed them both there at midnight to see if her plan would lead them on the same path.
“When you get off tonight, how about we all watch a movie here?” she asked.
“Just like the good ol’ days.”
“Exactly that.” But did he know of the bad ones too? Pursing her lips, she turned to Skyler, her heart beating rapidly as she studied his face. The furrow between his brows was there as it always was in each life, that same expression when he was concentrating, just like he was doing now. It was such a simple expression, but it felt wholly Eben.
