Haunted Legacy: The Windhaven Witches Series by Carissa Andrews (story reading .txt) 📗

of light between his fingers. As it gets bigger, he pulls his hands apart like he’s playing some sort of magickal game of cat’s cradle.

Without warning, my entire astral being feels like it’s being torn apart from the inside out. The room darkens, then shifts in and out of focus as he continues to mutter to himself. I stumble forward, trying to reach out for him, but my feet sink into the ground as if they’ve melted down and become a part of the floor somehow.

“Dad, please, no—I don’t want to stay with you. I need to go back,” I cry out, clutching at the air and struggling to maintain my sense of self.

The room spins and it’s almost as if everything I am is melting away, deconstructing atom by atom.

“You heard the lady. She said no,” someone says from somewhere in the room, though I can’t tell where.

The dark figure of the Lemure spins around. With his concentration no longer on the ball of energy, the room comes back into focus. Everything that I am pulls back together, and I’m no longer melting into the floor.

Dominic somehow rushes to me, bringing in a wave of fresh energy and light where only moments ago was utter darkness.

“How—?” I sputter.

“Forget that. We need to get out of here,” Dominic says. “Time to pull the plug.”

“No, we have to protect the others,” I say.

“Others?” The Lemure snarls. Its dark-purple eyes widen, and fury erupts across its quivering body. “What others?” Tipping his nose to the sky like some kind of animal, he sniffs at the air.

“The others need you alive, remember? Time to go,” Dominic repeats, tipping his head to the door.

I wave him off, shaking my head. “But what about him?” I stare at the mutated version of my father, unable to stop the well of compassion bubbling up inside me. “Will he be bound to his remains?”

Dominic’s eyes reflect the same confusion I feel and he shudders. “I don’t know, Autumn. It’s not my area of expertise.”

Panic spreads through me like wildfire, and I’m struck by total insight. He can’t stay separated from his body for this to work. I know what I need to do. I was never meant to simply distract him. I’m meant to bring his soul—pieces and all—to the catacombs. This was…

Fate.

The word floats through my mind, chilling me to the very core.

“What others?” The Lemure demands again. Its size expands, darkening the entryway and pulling all of the light with it. “What have you done?”

“Nothing. I didn’t mean—” I begin, putting on my best performance and trying to sound as terrified as possible.

“Where are they? How did I not know?” he growls, turning to face Dominic. “They can’t come in here and take you away from me. This is my home.”

The Lemure raises one of his gnarly hands, swinging it back to attack Dominic.

Rushing forward, I grab my Dad’s mangled body. Wrapping my arms around his torso, I press my cheek to the Lemure’s cold, almost clammy, chest and focus on the love I feel for my dad. How grateful I am that he loved me and my mother as much as he did.

Grateful for his sacrifice—even if it failed.

Then, with my mind centered on just one final wish, everything around me vanishes from view.

Chapter 30

Always Be With You

When I open my eyes, my dad and I are no longer in the middle of the entryway of the manor. Dominic isn’t with us, either. Instead, it’s just the two of us. We stand beneath the archway leading into the catacombs’ central hub, which glows softly from the torches on the walls. The symbols on the archway twinkle in bright oranges and blues, waiting, as I now know, to see if my dad’s soul is worthy.

“What is this place?” Dad asks, his voice a hushed whisper beside me.

I turn to see the distorted and darkened version of the Lemure fade away. He transforms before my eyes, as if there’s a plug in the center of his body and someone’s pulled the drain. When the last of darkness has faded, his blue eyes fill with wonder as his gaze extends beyond me.

“Welcome to the catacombs, Lyle,” Abigail says, stepping out from one of the dark tunnels beyond. “You’ve waited a long while.”

Dad’s lips falter, slipping into a frown as his forehead creases. “Abigail, I’m so sorry…”

She waves a hand dismissively. “None of this should be yours to shoulder alone, Lyle. You are but a byproduct of the centuries. Come, it is time to absolve you,” Abigail says, waving us into the inner sanctum.

Tilting his head to the side, Dad looks my direction with the question written across his face.

I nod, stepping into the central room as I extend a hand to him. “Come on—it’s time for you to rest.”

His shoulders stiffen as he looks down at the space separating the inner chamber from the outer tunnel. Lifting his right foot, he crosses the threshold. A deep rumbling starts off low and grows louder. The walls rattle, sifting dust that floats from its crevasses into the room like a blanket of smoke.

Dad steps the rest of the way into the chamber, his eyes glued on the walls around him.

“This is…”—he sighs contently—“beautiful.”

I narrow my eyes, confused.

Abigail smiles. “I wish dearly to see it as you do.”

Dad’s eyebrows tip up in the middle as confusion blossoms across his features.

Abigail turns to me, her features softening. “To you and I, we see this place of stone and earth. But I know not what the others behold. Perhaps it’s different for each, as there are many accounts.”

Turning back to my dad, I reach out for his hand. This time, as I take his spectral appendage, there’s no fear hidden in his eyes. He takes it, squeezing gently.

“What do you see?” I ask him.

“It’s the most beautiful garden I’ve ever seen. Flowers, trees, and animals are everywhere. There’s a pond over there,” Dad raises his free hand, pointing beyond Abigail.