Wicked (The Drake Chronicles Book 1) Read online

Instantly her body went rigid, and it was as if everything had been set in slow motion. A picture erupted before her, bordered with white smoke. It wasn’t herself that she saw… it was Logan.

  He was being held by the throat by a craggy, pale hand in what seemed to be a wooded area. The only sound she could hear was his heart beat slowing down.

  She watched with pain as his eyes bulged with fear. And not a second later, the grotesque hand grew tighter and the sound of a snapping neck raked at her ears.

  She watched the life leave Logan’s eyes and blinked. The vision vanished.

  Emma ripped her eyes away from the beast and stared down at Logan, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling. Why had she seen his death? She should have seen hers. It didn’t make sense until she looked down again; she was holding Logan, which must have interfered with the vision somehow.

  She was speechless. She had never seen anyone die before. She wanted desperately to curl up into a corner and forget everything she had just seen.

  “I am sorry that you had to see that,” the hellhound said. Ethan saw Emma lock eyes with the beast and knew she had seen something. “But I have come to warn you.”

  The look on her face nearly broke Ethan’s heart; he couldn’t imagine something happening to her, especially seeing her own death before it happened.

  “I wish you’d said something before you made me waste bullets,” Bennett Hardwicke snapped as he entered the hallway, Ethan swore he could still hear the gunshots.

  Bennett inhaled sharply when he saw his son and got down on his knees, cursing at him like a disobedient child.

  “Ethan and Emma Drake, Craven Bell is after your powers,” the hellhound cautioned. “I cannot disclose the identity of the individual who asked me to warn you, but they are a good friend of mine, so I did this as a favor.”

  “You must be careful who you trust and find a way to put Craven to rest before he takes after your father and brings destruction to both Elsmere and the mortal world. That is all I have for you both. Now, I will bid you good bye… and good luck.” The hellhound bowed and turned away from them.

  All Emma and Ethan could do was stare at each other. They were both speechless and confused at what the hellhound had just explained. How had this seemingly normal day turned so dark and chaotic? And who the hell was Craven Bell?

  They both watched in silence as the hellhound proceeded through the back door, its claws clacking on the concrete outside where the rest of the beasts laid bloodied and slain.

  3

  Emma sat in a bulky brown chair by the fireplace, her legs pulled up against her chest and her chin resting on a knee. Now, someone was after them. She just wanted to go back in time and never open the front door. But then she wouldn’t have met Logan, and meeting him was the only highlight of Wednesday’s catastrophes.

  Bennett had told them to get some rest, and in the morning; he would tell them everything he knew. But instead two full days had careened on by, the siblings barely speaking to each other and Logan stuck in bed.

  Bennett had gone to meet up with someone that could offer more help and he hadn’t returned yet. The three teenagers were growing concerned.

  Before Bennett had left, he took Ethan and Emma separately into his office to talk. Ethan heard nothing new, except that he needed to be careful with his magic and that Bennett would talk about it more when he returned.

  Emma regretted telling Bennett about Ethan nearly killing her, but she had to confide in someone and to her, it felt good getting it off of her chest.

  Ethan was lying just behind Emma on a blanketed loveseat, his eyes wide open. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, and neither had Emma. They had finally talked most of the day about everything that had gone wrong, including Craven Bell.

  Who was he and why did he want their powers? Weren’t there other witches to hunt? They hoped that the information that they would get from Bennett would help them. They would need all the help they could get.

  In the past two days, nothing surfaced about Mason and they knew they wouldn’t be seeing him anytime soon.

  They felt as if their world was slowly falling apart, fraying day by day. Would their lives ever return to how they were before?

  “Do you think it’s safe to go back to the house? I want to grab Katherine’s grimoire before something happens to our stuff,” Ethan sat up on the loveseat and stretched his arms out.

  Emma turned and peered over the back of the chair.

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “I don’t think it is a good idea,” an unfamiliar voice took reign of the living room, coming from behind Ethan.

  Emma jumped out from the chair, and Ethan turned, startled. His heart was beating heavily in chest and he swore he could hear Emma’s doing the same.

  There, standing in the archway of the living room was a guy; he looked to be their age and was tall, at least around Mason’s height.

  He had raven black spiked hair and ice-blue eyes. He’s gorgeous, Ethan said to himself. The guy’s chin was square with a jaw-line that could chisel granite, and he had black tattoos teasing from beneath his short sleeves.

  “Who the hell are you?” Ethan asked nervously.

  “His name is Adam Corwin; he is a friend’s son. He is here to help you, as am I.” Bennett entered the room; his hands folded behind his back and his brown trench coat brushing the carpet as he walked past Emma and took a seat in a leather chair.

  Ethan and Emma were relieved to find that Bennett was okay.

  Adam said nothing else as Bennett cleared his throat and spoke. “With everything that has happened, we need to take precautions and figure things out quickly. I knew your mother longer than Mason and we had told each other everything. When she died, I felt as if a part of me left as well. I don’t think I’ve ever been the same.”

  “Everyone I knew was told that the both of you had either gone into hiding, or were dead. The reason, I think, that Craven has discovered your whereabouts is because Mason was cloaking you.”

  “The only thing that could break the bond is if he went back to Elsmere. So I’m pretty sure that’s how you were uncloaked, and I don’t think he even realized that, because if he did, he wouldn’t have left.” Bennett sat up straighter, and Emma decided to sit back down. Ethan stared at him wanting to know more.

  “But now we have to worry, because not only does Craven want to take your powers, he wants to kill you as well. He’s been missing ever since your father passed and he was his partner. Children, your father was an awful man, excuse my usage of words, but he was. He wanted to cause destruction to both of our worlds and break the barrier that separated the mortal world and Elsmere.

  “He was tired of hiding, and so were the rest of his foolish group. Your mother was smart; she got away before he began planning it all. But even in death, your father still haunts our world. Craven was still a threat, though he had disappeared for a long while… until now.

  “From what I hear, he is looking for you in Elsmere and has killed hundreds of innocent witches and warlocks trying to get to you. He wants to finish what your father could not. And we have to stop him. Now, Adam is here because only one of you can go along with him to Elsmere.”

  “We need Oleandra, an elder witch who lives deep in the woods of Elsmere to cloak you the way Mason did, until we think of a way to get rid of Craven. Craven is very powerful, he’s killed witches for their power and is full of darkness. But I cannot go to Elsmere, as I have been shunned.”

  “We need Oleandra’s help; she has the type of power that is needed for cloaking and you will need to leave tonight.” Ethan and Emma stared at each other. They were going to be separated and neither one was all right with it.

  For a while they couldn’t even stand to be next to each other as they got older and now they wanted to be as close as possible. But only one of them could go. Tears streaked down Emma’s face as she nodded to her brother.

  They both knew who had to go.

  “I will
go,” Ethan said.

  “And Emma here will stay behind with me and my son. We will try to decipher ways to get rid of Craven and keep you both stable,” Bennett explained.

  “What do you mean keep us stable?” Ethan asked.

  Emma stood up from the chair and walked over to Bennett, placing her hand on the back of his chair. What was going on? Why was Emma hiding behind Bennett?

  “Emma and I spoke after you left my office. I know that the both of you have dark blood, but what Mason forgot to mention was that on your eighteenth birthday your powers will come in full. Along with that, you’ll either let the white or dark magic consume you. You don’t get to choose.”

  “I plan to make sure neither of you go dark, because the last thing we need is for one of you to become your father. You used dark magic against your sister, Ethan. That is only the beginning. I loved your mother greatly, and I will not let you disappoint her, even in death. Do you understand?” the last sentence Bennett spoke dripped with venom.

  Ethan felt his entire body grow hot as he diverted his attention from his sister and looked into Bennett’s eyes.

  “I understand.”

  Adam was trailing behind Ethan as he accompanied him back to his house. Bennett had let Ethan go back to retrieve some belongings as Ethan put it. He didn’t tell him about grabbing Katherine’s grimoire.

  Ethan was seething with anger, how could his sister tell a complete stranger about what had happened? And not to mention that the conversation was embarrassing and Ethan felt as if he were being spoken to like a repulsive child.

  He didn’t want to speak to her right now, and unexpectedly he was okay with being as far away from her as possible. He felt utterly betrayed.

  The woods looked enchanting in the daylight, as Ethan and Adam passed. But Ethan knew better. With all the rage in him he kicked a large log and it flew into the woods, crashing into a bundle of trees.

  “You’re angry with her, aren’t you?” Adam asked. His voice was deep and velvety, mesmerizing. Ethan ignored Adam and neared the shed, the anger still brewing beneath.

  He kicked open the shed door, the wood slamming into the wall with a loud crack. Chunks of termite infested wood fell to the ground.

  Adam stood in the doorway, leaning back on the heels of his boots. Ethan turned and couldn’t help but laugh. Adam looked like a stunned deer.

  “What the hell?” Adam said.

  “You’re not allowed in here, unless I invite you in.” Ethan crossed his arms.

  “Well, invite me in then,” Adam snapped.

  “Not with that attitude,” Ethan retorted.

  “Don’t speak to me about attitude Mr. Anger Issues,” Adam said.

  Ethan walked over to the door and stood in the doorway. Adam was way taller than him, and he couldn’t help but feel an attraction. He was stunning and smoldering.

  “I’m not always angry, you know.”

  “I know. I just like to push buttons,” Adam smirked. Ethan felt as if he were about to crumble from the way that Adam’s mouth curled.

  “Fine, you may enter.” Ethan turned and headed back over to the desk. Adam looked around the room, taking it all in. Ethan snatched an old red backpack from inside of a box and tried shoving Katherine’s grimoire inside.

  Adam noticed and hurried over to him.

  “Here, let me do it. You’re going to rip the spine clean off,” Adam said as he took the bag and grimoire from Ethan. Their hands touched for a second and Ethan felt as if his entire body had been invaded with an ice cold sensation.

  “Are you a vampire?” Ethan asked suddenly, feeling the fingers that Adam had just touched.

  “No. I am a warlock, like you. Why would you think I was a vamp?” Adam held the grimoire in his hand as he used his other to empty the backpack on the ground.

  “Because when you touched me it felt cold and icy,” Ethan said.

  “That was our dark power. It was mingling, I suppose you could say.” Ethan took a step back, nearly knocking over a small cauldron.

  “You have dark blood?” Ethan asked.

  “I am a full dark warlock, Ethan. I turned eighteen last year. But I’m not as twisted as other dark bloods.”

  “Also I disagree with Bennett, if you feel like your dark powers complete you then you should let it be. I’m dark, and look at me; I’m not trying to take over the world, am I?” Ethan stared into Adam’s eyes.

  “It’s still kind of scary,” Ethan said. Mason had kept a lot from them it seemed and Ethan wondered just how much more they didn’t know.

  “It’s tremendously scary. But when it’s over, you’ll feel better. You are your own person. The only way you’ll end up like your father is if you choose to,” Adam said and smiled at Ethan.

  Ethan’s heart began to pound. Adam’s smile was electric and made him feel warm all over. He quickly smiled back but tore his gaze from Adam. Now was not the time to become bewitched by a dark warlock.

  He reluctantly brushed the thoughts from his mind and grabbed a few more things before they left the shed and headed back to the Hardwicke’s home.

  Logan strolled into the library, his eyes set on Emma. She had been deliberating most of the day whether she should tell Logan or not about the vision. But it seemed to be eating at the back of her mind along with the guilt she felt for talking to Bennett about Ethan.

  When Ethan and Adam returned from the house, Ethan ignored her and told Bennett that he and Adam were going to be in the living room looking over Mason’s grimoire. Bennett expressed to Emma that Ethan was just angry, and that he’d get over it eventually.

  But something in the pit of her stomach told her that it would be a while before that actually happened. She knew Ethan, and sometimes he held grudges.

  Emma swayed her thoughts away from it all and focused her attention on reading an old scroll with the markings of symbols and two long paragraphs that looked to be in German.

  She didn’t know German, neither did Ethan. They’d seen it plenty in the books in Mason’s library, but neither ever took the time to learn the language.

  Emma noticed Logan as he walked into the room and smiled at him. She was glad that he was okay… for now. When someone looked into a hellhound’s eyes, they could never tell exactly when your death would occur. You just saw it happen.

  That scared Emma the most.

  The library was elaborately decorated with small gargoyles that were perched on top of the bookshelves, staring downward with eyes that seemed alive.

  The shelves reached the top of the skylight ceiling, filled with various amounts of books, but none appeared as old as Mason’s.

  It was a small room from the outside, but once inside it felt gigantic. Even though she hadn’t been gone long, it made Emma miss her house tremendously.

  Bennett was sitting in an enclosed desk area that was shielded by bullet and magic proof glass. Symbols had been carved into the glass, glowing once in a while. He told Emma that it was important that his desk be protected, for it contained important documents that no one could ever get their hands on.

  She attempted calling out to him but his full attention was on a large book and he could not hear her from within the dome. So she tried her best to do everything on her own.

  Even though Bennett had told her that her bloodline was well known, she couldn’t find much about it in the books he’d taken down for her. But the scroll that lay before her oddly had her last name at the bottom left corner.

  Logan took a seat at the long table in the middle of the room and leaned over, staring at the scroll.

  “What do you have there?” Logan asked. Emma looked up again and into his eyes, she felt at ease when she looked into them. As if they were somehow connected.

  She cleared her throat and quickly focused herself.

  “A scroll, which is in German, I think. It has my last name on it but I don’t understand it,” Emma explained.

  “Well I happen to know German,” Logan said as Emma handed the scr
oll over to him. He unrolled it and read it to himself, his eyebrows rising at parts. Something was wrong.

  Emma waited until he was done and then watched as he rolled it back up and sat it down on the table. He waited for a moment before he looked at Emma and spoke.

  “That scroll is about one of the darkest warlock’s from our world. He died many years ago… but it says that his grandchildren would bring devastation to our world… Emma, this scroll is about your grandfather.”

  Emma’s chair screeched as she pushed herself back and stood, her hands beginning to tremble. She combed her hair behind her ears, nervously, grabbed the scroll, and threw it across the room.