Will of the Witch [Legacy, BK 2 - Completed]

Chapter 13.1

Ezra

After a shower and change of clothes, I stood to one side of the backyard with Avery and Dad, leaving Benji plenty of room to build his portal. He'd begun the sequence, the circles twisting in the air, throwing off a red hue to tint the dark landscape.

"We'll keep you updated," Hunter said, as he and John came up to us. They'd taken the time to change as well, though I could see how anxious Hunter was to get moving.

With a flash, Benji's portal connected. On the other side of the threshold I could see a brilliant display of orchids and Cameron, looking at us wide-eyed, though the shock quickly turned into a smile as he caught sight of Hunter and John.

"Be safe, I'll let you know what we find at Lyssa's." I waved them off, silently praying to the higher powers that everything would go well.

Avery's hand wrapped around my waist, squeezing me in a little half hug. She'd insisted on joining us once she'd learned what we were doing. I'd been to Lyssa's house once, up in Northern Washington. It'd been over the summer, after we'd moved the Mansers. I had gone with Dad and tried to talk Lyssa into moving too, but she'd refused, saying Nathan had never been up to her place before.

My portal opened in Lyssa's backyard amongst the tall strand of trees that wrapped around the back half of her acreage. Her home was deep in the forested mountains of Washington state. Her family had been here since the beginning and was the only family that hadn't moved at any point during the war.

It was still some light in the west, but not much, and the growing twilight cast deep shadows across the lawn. The house was newer than I'd expected and Lyssa had told me that they'd rebuilt the house to help update and blend in with the locals. Not that there were many locals out here. The nearest town was three hours away.

Avery whistled. "This is nice."

Dad walked across the lawn and we followed. I glanced about the yard, trying to pick out anything that stood out as wrong, but not one thing seemed out of place. Lyssa's beaten, grey pickup truck, that looked about a century old, sat under a carport to the left of the house. Beyond that, an old barn stood watch.

"Shouldn't there be lights on in the house if someone's home?" Avery asked.

"At this time of night? I'd think so. Lyssa tends to be a bit of a night owl, even if there are early farm chores to do." Dad stepped over a stone border and carefully navigated through the mulched flower bed to get close to one of the house's dark windows.

I took another look around the yard, not wanting anything to sneak up on us. Unease was making me twitchy and nervous, a sense of loss here that I just couldn't place.

"I can't see anything." Dad stepped back from the window and looked around, examining the exterior of the house. "But nothing looks wrong from out here. Hang on, I'm going to go around to the front."

Avery and I followed. True night had fallen and it was getting harder to see where to step. A flood light triggered as we came around the front of the house, and I winced at the bright light.

Dad went right for the front door, knocking loudly on it. "Lyssa!"

There was no answer, no noise except for the normal sounds of bugs and night birds. He pounded harder on the door. "It's William! Open the door, Lyssa."

When there still wasn't an answer, he stepped off the little brick stoop and walked through the waist high bushes to get to the large window on the right. He felt around the edge of the dark navy shutter until he came up with a key.

"Handy," I said, as Dad climbed back up.

"Same place for the last twenty years," he said absently. He pushed the key into the lock. The door opened without any resistance, swinging wide. "Lyssa?"