Southern Secrets: Book 2 in Southern Charms Series

Chapter Forty-One: Played

Rose

Dad and Luis studied the drawing for almost ten minutes. At the bottom right corner, coordinates were written, giving them a better idea of the exact location. Apparently, knowing the direction to face helped when attempting to teleport to an unfamiliar location. It just highlighted all the things I didn't know and reminded me what I knew wouldn't even fill this bottle.

I laid the feather against the glass and tried to imagine what life had been like for Malphas during the centuries he was held captive there- body and soul. The sudden image of a very cramped sorcerer came to mind, making me laugh out loud. I knew enough to know it wouldn't have been like that. These prisons were basically portals to other dimensions that existed only to house prisoners. My Augur abilities gave me a sudden glimpse of those worlds, and I trembled. I would have rather been physically trapped inside this bottle.

It was no wonder Malphas had no regard for life when he escaped. Years of torture with only thoughts of revenge for company was enough to twist the purest soul, and it was more proof that he was not the monster he believed himself to be. We had been right to help him whether or not releasing him brought us victory over Atticus.

"Pumpkin, we're ready."

Twisting my hair into a messy braid, I slid the raven's feather between the strands and rose to my feet. The bottle I left in the sand- certain it was empty. Luis stared at it until I joined them. When he caught me watching, he jerked his eyes away.

"Hold tight," Daddy said, taking my hand and his old friend's- if a bit more reluctantly. Their childish animosity might have been more amusing if we weren't faced with such dire circumstances.

And then the world collapsed. Chest squeezed tight for a second- like holding a breath until panic nearly sets in- and then everything expanded, and we stood on a snow dusted ledge jutting out over a black void. Overheard, thousands of stars shivered in a frosty night sky. Without light pollution, they were brilliant enough to illuminate the path winding behind us, through giant pines and snow banks, disappearing into the side of the mountain.

"Shit," Luis gasped. "A warning would be nice."

"What kind of warning?" I hissed, lowering my voice to a barely audible whisper, hoping he would get the hint.

He didn't.

"That we were going from a tropical island to the arctic."

Dad grunted. He was smart enough to murmur. "The x on the picture in the white caps of the mountains wasn't warning enough?"

Luis rolled his eyes and started to work a spell. Dad grabbed his arm and shook his head. It was then that I noticed my father was bone dry, and Luis still dripped with salt water.

"Should've done that on the island. We don't need to use magic anymore. At least until we get the upper hand."

"And you don't think the teleportation spell we just used wouldn't set off any alarms if they existed?" he snapped back, waving his hand over his body. The water disappeared at once.

I bristled in irritation. The wetsuit was proving to keep me warm against the brisk temperature, but being uncomfortable was the least of my concerns. This entire time- since Luis set this terrible series of events in motion- I'd wanted to know why the adults were absent. Why had they left us to deal with all this? Now I wondered if we would already be done with this if they had left it in our hands, and none of this would have happened if it wasn't for them. Even Mama was guilty of withholding information that led us to this moment. I vowed to do better.

"Enough. Let's go."

I set off down the path, ignoring the grumbles from Luis about there being nowhere to actually go. To be fair, it certainly appeared as if we'd teleported to a dead end, but like the wall in the room below Okea's apartments, I could sense the magic humming in the rock. Most witches could feel magic, but this was cloaked. Later, I would question whether or not this ability came from my Siphoning Gift or if it was another Gift all together. Either way, it was extremely helpful.