Crescent Legacy Nicole Taylor (top young adult novels .TXT) 📖

“I thought of you every day,” she went on. “Wonderin’ what you’d be like, if you were as feisty as me or calm like your father.”

“Aileen…”

“You’re the one, Skye,” she declared, grasping my shoulders. “After a thousand years, you’re the one who’ll lead us all into a new age.”

“You’re really freaking me out,” I muttered. “Do we have to do this? I’m not a savior.”

“Skye, you need to hear this.” Her expression turned serious as she stared at me. “When the time comes, open yourself.”

“Open myself?”

“When it happens, you’ll know.”

“That’s not weird at all,” I said, making a face.

I wasn’t a fabled chosen one. I was just Skye, the reluctant witch with a flair for the dramatic. I would do what had to be done, and that was all. There was nothing prophetic about it at all. The stars definitely did not align on the day of my birth, I could vouch for that.

“Come.” Aileen smiled and shook her head, gesturing for me to step toward the center of the ruin.

Kneeling beside the crystal, we clasped hands and rested our free hands on the quartz, making a circle.

“For the witches of Ireland,” I whispered.

“Today, we are one coven,” Aileen added.

“Forever, we are one.”

Chapter 18

Standing underneath the branches of the hawthorn in the middle of the main road through Derrydun, I sighed.

I hated waiting. Especially when it was all world hanging in the balance and shite.

“It’s getting colder,” Maggie said, her breath vaporizing on the air. “Are you sure it’s not just a freak weather event?”

“This is how Carman got into Ireland,” I said, shaking my head. “Under the cover of snow.”

Roy paced behind us, clutching a shotgun, Mairead was lingering under the eave of Molly McCreedy’s, Mary Donnelly was handing out cookies, and Mrs. Boyle was standing guard over her garden, shovel in hand.

The rest of the villagers were spread out, manning the perimeter and waiting for signs of Carman’s approach. Aileen was holed up in the teahouse, out of sight—in the only warm place in town—and out of mind.

“It won’t be long now,” I murmured, glancing at the sky.

“Hooo!”

“What’s that?” Mairead called out. “Is it an owl?”

“I don’t think so,” Mary said, dusting off her empty tray. “Owls only come out at night.”

We all turned our attention up the road to the single set of traffic lights.

“Hooo!”

“There it is again,” Roy said.

“What do you suppose it is?” Maggie asked.

“Hooo!” Sean McKinnon appeared around the corner, sprinting down the road and waving his arms like a madman.

“It’s Sean,” Mairead said. “I’ve never heard him make that sound before.”

“Is his ass on fire?” Maggie asked. “I’ve never seen him run so fast.”

“The snakes are comin’!” he bellowed. “The snakes are comin’!”

“Snakes?” I glanced at Aileen, who’d emerged from the teahouse.

“There are no snakes in Ireland,” she said with a humph. “Is he drunk?”

Sean came to a stop in front of our group and doubled over, trying to catch his breath. “I’m.” Puff. “Not.” Puff. “Shittin’.” Puff. “Around.”

“Not a drop of whiskey in him,” Maggie said, sniffing the air around the Irishman. “Just the stench of not showerin’ for a few days.”

“I showered this mornin’ and washed meself with Imperial Leather soap, I’ll be thankin’ you very much.”

“Must be the Brut deodorant then,” Aileen said.

“Aileen!” Sean complained. “Skye, you believe me, right?”

“Where’d you see them?” I asked, in a mood to believe everything on the eve—or day—of battle.

“Comin’ down the road past the Ashlyn’s,” he replied. “A whole swarm of ’em. Brown ones, green ones, black ones, stripy ones. Mean lookin’ sons of—”

“Then they’re here,” I murmured, glancing at Aileen again. “Finally.”

“Boone’ll be with them,” she said, grasping my hands. “Are you ready to face him?”

I nodded. I’d fretted enough over his true nature. There was nothing left to do now but fight.

“It’s Carman,” I said. “All of it. Take out her, and the rest will fall. I must have a chance to win him back before…”

Aileen nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Maggie said.

“Me, too,” Sean added.

Roy nodded gruffly and lifted his shotgun.

“Spread the word,” I said to Mairead. “This is not a drill.”

“On it,” the Goth girl declared and ran off to warn the others.

“Aileen, go back inside. I’ve got this.”

A mass of writhing darkness appeared on the horizon and powered toward us, slithering down the road in one great heap.

“Ô mo dhia!” Mary exclaimed.

“What do we do?” Sean asked.

Say a prayer…

I steeled myself as the mass bore down on us, and I held out my hands, hoping for the best.

Mary clutched her crystal as the snakes wove around her and the other villagers, the talismans protecting them from being overwhelmed. Mrs. Boyle screeched something in Gaelic and chopped off the head of a snake with her shovel, then turned to slice and dice another.

I clutched my own talisman and felt out my Legacy. A rush of magic flowed from my core, and I pushed it outward.

“Go away,” I whispered. “No snakes allowed!”

I forced my magic outward, letting my instincts guide me. The barrier around me grew and grew until it exploded outward, sending snakes flying through the air.

“Argh!” Maggie shrieked. “There’s one in me hair! Get it out! Get it out!”

She jumped from foot to foot as Roy picked the little snake from her curly locks and flung it down for Mrs. Boyle to sever in half.

The snakes hissed and struck out, and I shoved them away with my magic, the closest to the blast exploding. Little bits of snake guts flew everywhere, and Mary Donnelly shrieked.

“This wasn’t in the plan!” she exclaimed.

As the rest of the snakes slithered away, I glanced back up the road. The traffic lights blinked on and off a few times, then died completely. Overhead, the sky darkened, the clouds brimming with darkness.

“I don’t like this,” Sean said, clutching Maggie’s arm.

“You’re supposed to protect me,” she complained.

“If I protect you, will you give me a kiss?”

“Eww! No!”

“Shh,” I hissed holding up my hand.

Silence fell behind me as I