Chapter Twenty-Eight

By the time I finish helping Sibeal rid herself of glass and get into the bath to soak her wounds and soul alike, Bass and Tanner have the broken glass cleaned up and are working on covering the empty window with a board. I don’t relish trying to explain that one to Mrs. Ahearn. The next few hours are going to be difficult enough as it is.

After watching what Sibeal had to go through to beat Darcy, I know coming to a knock-down, drag-out fight with Etain will only end in disaster. There is no way Sibeal can stand up to someone who has been stealing people’s power for centuries! I can’t even imagine how powerful she is.

I look at the clock, knowing Mrs. Ahearn and Etain will be home any minute. I am close to freaking out when Bass and Tanner finish with the window and join me in the kitchen.

“How’s Sibeal?” Tanner asks.

“Okay for now.” My eyes are drawn toward the hall as worry for my friend gathers around me. “I’m sure what she did is going to come crashing down on her soon enough, but I think the knowledge that she’s free of Darcy’s tormenting is holding it off for now. The real problem is Etain, though. What are we going to do?”

No one has an answer. Neither of them needs me to explain how impossible it would be for Sibeal to match power with Etain. All I can think of is that we need to keep Etain away from Sibeal. How long can we keep that up, though? I don’t even know how long Etain is planning to stay.

“We have to convince Mrs. Ahearn that Etain shouldn’t be around Sibeal,” Bas says.

“How do we do that?” Tanner asks.

I start to shake my head, but an idea begins forming in my mind. It’s certainly not a permanent fix, but it might work. A smile begins at one corner of my mouth, drawing Bass’s attention. I need to ask Sibeal a question first.

“My mom and Etain just pulled up,” Sibeal squeaks, startling all of us.

I rush over to Sibeal and grab her bare shoulders. “Sibeal, what did you tell your parents about the night Darcy disappeared?”

“Nothing,” she says quickly. “I told them I couldn’t remember what happened. I didn’t know what else to say.”

“Good.”

Turning back to the guys, I push Sibeal at them. “Take her to her room and make sure she locks the door, but don’t leave, okay?”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Bas says.

“No kidding,” Tanner scoffs. “We aren’t leaving until we know you’re both safe.”

I smile at them both. “Thanks, guys. Bas, can you do one more thing? Can you call my dad and tell him I’m going to be at Sibeal’s a little longer. Tell him she’s having a tough day and her mom asked me to keep her company.”

I don’t wait for him to agree because I hear the front door opening. Hurrying out to the living room, I do my best to distract the women marching through the door from Sibeal being rushed to her room. Mrs. Ahearn is too busy holding the door and chatting with Etain to notice, but Etain’s hawk-like eyes zero in on Sibeal right away.

“What happened here?” Etain demands, which seems a little much since it isn’t even her house.

The anger in her voice alerts Mrs. Ahearn that something is wrong. Her eyes dart around the room, confused until she sees the boarded up window. “Oh dear! Arra, what happened? Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone’s fine,” I reassure her. “The window was just an accident. A raven flew right into and broke the glass. Bas and Tanner got rid of the broken glass and covered it up for you.”

About that time, Bas and Tanner return from securing Sibeal in her room. Mrs. Ahearn is quick to thank them for taking care of the window. She clearly bought my story hook, line, and sinker. Etain isn’t so easy to convince.

I watch her carefully as her eyes scan the room for any other signs of a disturbance. I know she won’t find anything, but when her eyes close, I start to worry she has other ways of figuring out what happened. When her eyes snap open and I find myself on the receiving end of a vicious glare, I take a step back. She can sense something.

As Mrs. Ahearn finally stops thanking Bas and Tanner, I walk over to Sibeal’s mom and gently place my hand on her arm. My careful approach seems to alert her right away.

“Arra, is something wrong?”

I hesitate, trying to make sure Etain won’t be able to overhear me. “While you were gone, Sibeal had a bit of a breakdown.”

Panic instantly springs to Mrs. Ahearn’s eyes. My fingers tighten on her arm and I pull her a little further away, into the hall so we can speak privately.

“Don’t worry,” I say, “she’s doing much better now, but today has been really hard for her. I think she’s starting to remember what happened.”

“What? What do you mean she’s starting to remember? About the night Darcy disappeared?” she asks frantically.

I nod slowly, willing her to calm down and not alert Etain. “She didn’t tell me much, but when I mentioned that you and Etain would be back soon, she lost it. She was terrified, Mrs. Ahearn…of Etain.”

She shakes her head in confusion. “But, Sibeal loves Etain. They’ve always been close.”

“Sibeal still can’t recall all the details, but she seems to think Etain was involved in Darcy’s disappearance. She is too scared of her to come out of her room.”

“I…I don’t understand,” Mrs. Ahearn says. She presses her hand against her chest. “Why would Etain hurt Darcy?”

I scramble to answer that question. “Were Darcy and Etain close, too?” I ask, hoping for Mrs. Ahearn to help me fill in the blanks.

Her eyes widen. “No, they weren’t. Etain said Darcy was dangerous. She tried to convince us to keep her away from Sibeal. She never liked to be around Darcy.” Mrs. Ahearn’s hand jumps to her mouth as she seems to be putting pieces of the puzzle together.

I’m putting my own puzzle together. No doubt, Etain recognized too much of herself in Darcy. She probably figured Darcy would discover what she was about and throw a wrench in her plans, so she did everything she could have to keep Darcy and Sibeal separated.

“Maybe I should go talk to Sibeal,” Mrs. Ahearn says shakily.

“I’ll come with you.” It’s an offer she accepts thankfully.

We walk toward Sibeal’s room. Mrs. Ahearn reaches for the door knob, and I am about to tell her it’s locked when her hand turns the knob easily. Panic hits me as the door swings open and we find the room completely empty.

“No!” I cry.

My feet leave Mrs. Ahearn behind as I tear through the house back to the living room where we left Etain under the watch of Bas and Tanner. My knees buckle when I come around the corner and find both Bas and Tanner lying on the floor, not moving. Getting back to my feet is impossible, and I nearly fall on Bas trying to get to him. My hand taps against his cheek as I plead with him to open his eyes.

“What is going on?” Mrs. Ahearn demands when she finally catches up to me.

“Bas, please, please, open your eyes,” I beg tearfully.

My heart leaps when he begins to stir. A groan from Tanner reminds me of his presence. I look over at him in a panic and scramble to his side.

“What happened?” Bas asks as he pushes himself up to a sitting position.

“I think Etain took Sibeal,” I blurt out to everyone. “Hurry! We have to find her!”

Bas and Tanner both try to shake off whatever Etain did to them and get back to their feet. Mrs. Ahearn simply starts to panic. “Sibeal! Where is Sibeal?”

“We don’t know, but Etain has her and she’s going to try to hurt her if we don’t get there in time.”

Mrs. Ahearn breaks down in tears. I feel for her, I do, but we don’t have time for this! My own panic is feeding off of hers and I end up yanking her rather roughly to face me. “You have to think,” I demand. “Where would Etain take Sibeal if she wanted to hurt her?”

“And make it look like an accident,” Tanner adds.

Bas takes a deep breath. “Or a suicide,” he says reluctantly.

Luckily, Tanner is close enough to catch Mrs. Ahearn when her knees collapse. I shake her hands roughly. I feel terrible being mean to her right now, but she can’t faint! We need her to tell us where they went.

“There’s a cliff overlooking the ocean,” Mrs. Ahearn says with a sob. “I mentioned it to Etain on the way here because it’s such a beautiful view. I don’t know where else she would take her.”

It feels like pulling teeth to get the directions from Sibeal’s mom, but a few seconds later, Tanner, Bas, and I are rushing out of the house toward the ocean. I don’t know how far we run, and I don’t feel the exhaustion, because the sight of Etain holding a struggling Sibeal out over the water at the height of the cliff, wipes everything else from my mind.

We only have a second to take everything in. At the bottom of the hill that leads to the cliff, we can see Etain without her seeing us. That advantage will only last halfway up the hill, but it’s better than nothing. One quick glance at each other shows we’re all on the same page.

Bas and Tanner immediately separate, one going to either side of the hill. I trust them to come up with a plan of attack and continue straight toward Etain at the top. I try to be as quiet as possible, but something in Sibeal’s expression must alert her. Etain’s body swings toward me with malice in her eyes.

“Unless you want to join your friend on the rocks below, stop walking, now!” Etain commands.

“I’m not going to let you hurt her,” I say angrily.

Etain laughs. “How do you plan on stopping me?”

A pain I can’t explain starts spreading through my body. I fall to the ground, trying not to scream and give Etain the satisfaction.

“Arra!” Sibeal shrieks.

I keep trying to move, but the pain only intensifies. It’s all I can think about until Sibeal starts screaming. I drag my head up, terrified that she has already been sent over the edge. My eyes widen as I see her feet back on the ground and her arms flailing against Etain. The distraction must be enough to loosen Etain’s grip on me. I suck in a breath against the pain still crippling me and pull myself forward.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Tanner creeping toward Etain and I pray that Bas is doing the same thing from the other side. There is no chance of me making it to Sibeal before them at this point. Another blast of pain sends me to the ground in agony, but a second later it nearly disappears. I don’t question what is happening. I just get up and run.

I am ten feet away when Etain throws Sibeal away from her. Fear of another round of crippling pain, or of Sibeal being kicked over the edge, flings me forward. Bas and Tanner are running now, too. It is total desperation as we sprint for Etain and Sibeal.

My eyes widen as Tanner leaps for Etain’s legs. He manages to grab hold, but it’s not enough to stop Etain from acting. The normally strong ledge that a very dazed Sibeal is lying on begins to inexplicably crumble beneath her. I dive for Sibeal as she finally comes fully awake and scrambles to find something to hold onto.

The air in my lungs blasts out of my body as I hit the ground, but Sibeal’s hand is clinging to mine and that’s all that matters. We hold onto each other, but neither one of us can manage more than that. Pulling Sibeal up is beyond me. I can’t pull myself up to a better position without sliding forward on the angled, still crumbling ledge.

I look back and scream for help, but the scene behind me is total chaos. Etain is out of Tanner’s grip, climbing back to her feet as Tanner lies on the ground. Bas lunges at Etain, but is swatted away by some unseen force. He rolls into Tanner, grabbing his friend as he slides and pulling him away from Etain just in time to crumple to the ground.

“Sibeal,” I scream, “you have to try to reach the edge.” My eyes dart to my left, where a firm and strong portion of the cliff seems to be beyond Etain’s power. Sibeal sees it as well and tightens her grip as she battles the raging fear trying to take her over.

My heart is pounding as Sibeal claws at the ground around her in hopes of finding a hold, but everything slips through her fingers. Her reaching and lunging is making it harder to hold onto her. Panic like I have never known before threatens to override everything else. I fight to stay in control enough to help her.

“I’m going to swing you,” I call down to Sibeal.

My arms feel like they are going to be pulled out of their sockets as I wrench Sibeal back and forth with the plea that she’ll find something better to hold onto. I scream at her to reach farther as my grip on her hand begins to slip. I know we are about to run out of time, so I put everything I have left into one last swing. My eyes close against failure as Sibeal’s hand slips from my grasp.

I can’t bear to see her fall, but my eyes snap open and see her, not plummeting to her death, but clinging to a more stable outcropping to the left and pulling herself up onto her stomach. My moment of relief vanishes as Sibeal’s face screws up in shock. We both see Etain reaching for Sibeal as if time has slowed down.

I watch the next few seconds completely unable to move or breathe.

Sibeal’s eyes are full of panic, but her movements are swift and sure as she reaches into the back pocket of her jeans. I can’t understand what she’s doing. The sight of the Soul Stone being yanked from her pocket doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know what she plans to do with it until it goes sailing through the air toward Etain.

Throwing rocks doesn’t seem like it will accomplish much…until Etain catches the stone on instinct and light flares out through her hand at the sound of Sibeal activating the curse. Etain’s howls scour the cliffside. The stench of burning flesh pollutes the air as the stone scorches Etain’s hand. Sibeal covers her ears and turns away as a blast radiates out from the stone, pulling Etain into its depths to rot.

The stone falls back to the ground as if nothing has happened. In reality, I have no freakin’ clue what just happened, but I don’t care. My eyes fasten onto Sibeal’s prostrate form. Small movements show her trying to get up, but they are weak and clumsy. Fear that she might still fall, yanks me up to my feet. That’s as far as I get, though, when the unstable ground beneath me lurches, falling away and taking me with it.

The sound of my name being screamed out by three separate voices does nothing to stop me from falling. As panic grips me, thoughts of Bas race through my mind. His face is the last thing I see before my body slams into the ground.