Garden of Dreams and Desires - Kristen Painter Page 0,44
second later. A cold shock ripped through her, leaving her breathless and hurting to the point she almost forgot Cy’s instructions. She managed to wrap her arms around her knees just before she landed. She hit grass with a thud, one arm awkwardly bent beneath her. She bit down to keep the yelp of pain to herself.
She lay there, for how long she wasn’t sure. A numb, empty feeling spread through her. Like she’d lost something. At last she pushed to her elbows.
The garden was dark and deserted, but lights blazed in the house. How long had she actually been in that pit? Shivering in her underwear, she crouched behind a few plants bordering the pond while she got a better look at the house. There was movement inside, but she couldn’t be sure who it was. Water trickled off her hair and down her back. The clothes Ava Mae had left at the pond’s edge were gone. Damn it, Ava Mae. Why did you have to get undressed?
Harlow waited for her twin to snap back with some comment, but the response never came. Frowning, she pulled her focus inward. The hollow place Ava Mae had once filled was empty again. Ava Mae seemed to be well and truly gone. Had she gotten stuck in the pond? Was hers the soul that the witches’ magic had stolen? Was that the icy shock she’d felt as she’d been thrown back through the pond? Cy had said it was a holding pit for souls, after all.
Harlow leaned forward to gaze into the pond. The water was black and glittering beneath the newly risen moon. Here and there a few koi swam lazily. Nothing indicated the pond was anything more than a pond but somewhere under there, Cy was trapped.
With a sigh, she sat back and stared at the house once more. Three figures were visible through the sheer curtains, so all the witches were in there. And judging by the fact that her clothes were gone, they probably felt confident she wasn’t getting out of their trap. She lifted her chin. Let them think that. It meant she had the upper hand.
She tried to focus on that as she kept to the shadows and made her way to the garden wall. Gaze still on the house, she reached for the latch on the garden gate. The metal burned her fingers. She yanked them back, hissing softly. Wearing gloves all the time had made her forget that iron hurt. Getting through the gate wasn’t going to be fun. She took a deep breath, yanked the gate as wide open as she dared and slipped through. Welts swelled on her fingers where she’d made contact. The gate clanged shut behind her.
Startled by the noise, she ran into the darkness, hoping she’d see a street she recognized or a patrolling police car, anything to guide her home.
Zara’s head jerked up. “What was that?”
Giselle frowned. “I didn’t hear anything.” Holding the necessary spells for the chaos magic was wearing Zara’s nerves threadbare. Giselle worried the work required for the ruina vox totem was too much for her sister.
Ian tucked his hands behind his head where he lounged on the couch, watching some game on the holovision. Thankfully, he’d kept the sound low. “I didn’t, either.”
Zara went to the window and pulled back the sheers to stare into the darkness of the garden. “I heard something.”
“Maybe it was the holovision,” Ian said.
Zara needed comforting, assuring. Anything they could do to keep her stress free. Giselle motioned at Ian. “Make Zara a cup of tea, would you?”
“On it.” He got off the couch.
Giselle turned to her sister. “Please rest. You’ve had a long day and there are more long days to come. I’ll check the garden. It was probably just a neighbor’s cat getting into your catnip bed again.”
Zara turned away from the window. “Maybe you’re right.” Her shoulders dropped and the creases in her forehead smoothed out. “Thank you.” She went back to her chair.
Giselle opened one of the French doors. Ian shot her a concerned look as he went into the kitchen. “I won’t be long.”
She closed the door behind her and let her eyes adjust to the dark. What she could see of the garden looked just as they’d left it. She strolled the stone path that led to the pond. The water rippled in the breeze, but was otherwise undisturbed. A few of the koi surfaced as she neared, their mouths gaping for food.