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Soft music poured out from the bedroom, and Sadie noticed River hadn’t come back. She found him on the floor, his back propped against the bed as he studied his hands, listening to a record. Sadie sank down beside him and laced her hand with his, then rested her head on his shoulder while closing her eyes, thinking of their times together in the past.
“My father won’t allow us to be together,” Harlow said.
“We could run away,” Jasper murmured, his warm lips trailing up her throat, temporarily tamping down her fear.
“Let’s wait. I don’t want to leave my sister,” Harlow whispered, fear coursing through her.
“He’ll give in eventually. I do have quite the charm.” His hot tongue skated up her jaw. “Witch or not.”
“That you do, my vicious dream.” She arched into his touch just as he buried himself inside of her.
Two hands cutting off Sadie’s air supply ripped her from her thoughts. She opened her eyes to meet River’s gaze, empty and cold, as she gasped for air, his hands squeezing her neck harder. The whites of his eyes were spotted with red, his expression hollow. Her body bucked and jerked, small squeaks escaping her mouth as she fought to scream. The magic within her begged to come out through a spell, to make him stop.
River! Sadie screamed inside her skull. Her lungs felt as if they would burst, and her essence was fading, her eyelids collapsing.
Feet pounded against the wooden floor before River was yanked away from her. Charlie held the dagger to River’s throat, her nostrils flaring. “That was your one chance. Come near her like that again, and I’ll slit your throat. I know you’re battling these things because of me, but that doesn’t mean I will allow you to bring her death.”
River’s eyes were no longer swirling with emptiness. As his chest heaved, a haunted stare was now there, and he didn’t even try to push Charlie away. “Maybe you should,” he rasped. “This time, I can’t control it.”
“You will not harm him!” Sadie shouted, still battling to drink in oxygen. “Please.”
“Then, for now, he will need to be tied up,” Charlie said.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I will always protect you.”
Sadie searched the shed for rope, but it was split and frayed—even a small child could easily tear through it. She would just have to make do with fabric from her room. As she shut the door to the shed, haunting music swept through the night. Midnight had arrived.
When a screech ripped through the air, she flicked off her flashlight, then hurried inside the cabin, shutting the door behind her. The sound trickled closer with the breeze, and she watched behind the curtain of the backdoor window as a dark outline of a spirit crept closer. It banged against the glass, releasing a heinous scream.
She should’ve never kept the spirits in her home back in Salem—it was the reason they were here now. Skyler was hurt, dead or not, because of her. Yet these spirits had chosen on their own, with no force from her hand to harm him. Skyler, who would’ve wanted to save them.
“I hope you suffer more,” she whispered, gritting her teeth.
“Sadie!” Charlie shouted. “Did you find any rope?”
“It was deteriorated.” Sadie slowly stepped away from the door, then hurried to the bedroom. “I’ll grab a few scarves, though,” she said, stopping in her tracks as a low groan fell from River’s lips. He lay on the bed, perspiration dotting his brow, and as soon as his gaze fixed on Sadie, he growled, jolting forward. Charlie shoved him down by the chest, speaking words that prevented him from rising while he writhed, hissed, as if he were possessed by a demon.
Sadie yanked open the drawer to fish out the silk scarves she’d saved from Halloween several years ago. She didn’t hesitate as she grasped one of River’s arms, even while he swiped at her, and tied two around one wrist to make the bind stronger, then she mirrored her movements with the other. Charlie helped with his legs, each of them tying one ankle to the footboard.
Bed shaking, River growled louder, madness shining in his gaze, aggression that he wanted to unleash on her. Sadie’s chest heaved as he watched her with bared teeth, beads of red flickering in the whites of his eyes. Her heart clenched at seeing him this way, with violence directed toward her. She loathed having to tie him up, but for now, it was their only option.
“Come here,” Charlie said, motioning Sadie out into the living room. “He’ll be better off in there. I know he’s your other half, the other side of your coin, your soulmate if they exist. I get that, I do, but you need to leave him alone for the time being. He’s getting too aggressive when you’re near, and you need to wait for him to calm down, if he does at all. I know how you two can never stay away from each other, but do it for him. Let him rest tonight.”
If he does at all. What if he didn’t return to himself… “I can leave him alone,” Sadie whispered, peering down at her hands.
Charlie eyed her as if she didn’t believe her. “What else is it? I feel the anger brewing inside you, as it did toward Papa.”
“The spirits. I want to punish them for Skyler.” She held up a hand as Charlie opened her mouth to speak. “I know I can’t, but it’s what I feel. I feel the way I did with Papa, the way I did when River murdered his entire coven. If I could’ve done it, I would’ve too. I still wonder what Mama would think about what I did to Papa. Would she have hated me?”
Charlie blew out a breath and gathered Sadie in a hug. “Mama would’ve been relieved about Papa. He hurt her, her children, and you did what she couldn’t bring herself to do. I never once believed what you did was wrong, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.” Sadie now understood why Charlie had always seemed like more of a mother, and it was because of Salem, when their mother had passed early, their two brothers following a few years later, and their father never being a true father at all.
“I still hate him,” Sadie said under her breath.
“I know.” Charlie took her arms from around Sadie and stepped back. “You helped me a lot today, and I didn’t think I would need it to figure out how to break this hex, yet I do. Nothing is working. But I’m going to continue to try. Could you get me a few candles?”
“Of course. I’ll do anything you need tonight.” Sadie collected two candles from the kitchen cabinet. She lit the wicks and brought them to the coffee table before taking a seat on the fur rug beside Charlie. As her sister closed her eyes and concentrated, Sadie tried to dip into her spells, begging the magic to come forth as she silently chanted to banish the spirits back into their chains below ground. She remembered the sound of her son’s heartbeat that Charlie had allowed her to listen to, and it only made her try harder until she could no longer keep her eyes open.
