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

his chest heaving, and the tether broke, forcing Carman to recoil.

“No!” She lurched forward, raising her hands and casting the curse she’d threatened him with. Golden light streamed from her fingers, rushing toward Boone, who was lying helpless on the ground, his eyes sad and accepting.

No!

I wasn’t prepared for the color of her Legacy, but I was quick enough to leap between them and deflect the curse before it hit him, or me for that matter. It shot off into the sky, flaring as it dissolved against the web covering Derrydun.

“Stay away from him.” I stood between them, giving Carman a look that was designed to wither.

“Skye…” Boone moaned, and I felt his hand curl around my ankle.

I tensed but didn’t look back. “I told you,” I murmured. “I’m going to fight for you.”

I felt a rush as he poured his Legacy into my body. It joined with mine, bright and clear, as Carman bore down on me.

Aileen was right, I mused. We are stronger together.

“Let’s see if she’s still the coward I remember,” Carman said, grabbing my arm. “It’s time to face me…sister.”

“Huh?” The air was forced from my lungs as I was torn away from Boone and the rest of reality.

Summer was back.

The sun shone, and golden light streamed through the green canopy of the forest. The woody scent of the earth filled my nostrils as I breathed deep. I would give Carman a point for this one. Her visions were super realistic.

I had bare feet again. Always with the feet. Feet were the grossest thing ever. Toe jam, warts, crusty heel skin. Ugh, I wanted to vomit.

“Look at me.”

I turned at the sound of Carman’s voice, and our eyes met. She looked younger, more innocent, her cheeks and nose dusted with freckles. Her red hair was loose and wild, the simple linen shift she wore looking like it was from a different era. Behind her, the ancient hawthorn stood tall, but not as tall as it did now. Was this what the clearing looked like a thousand years ago? Everything was so…different.

“Siobhan,” Carman said. “Stop hiding behind the baby. Come forth.”

“I’m not a baby!” I exclaimed. “I don’t know who this Siobhan is!”

“Siobhan is my sister,” she said with a hiss. “The matriarch of the Crescent Witches, and the bitch who forced me out of my home. My own sister!”

She slapped my cheek, forcing my head to the side. My face stung, but I barely felt it. Carman was a Crescent Witch? Holy guacamole!

“So this is about revenge,” I murmured. “You want to destroy the world for what? A little tiff with your sister? A thousand-year-old grudge for this…” I shook my head.

Carman waved her hand through the air, and the vision shimmered.

“They killed him,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “The fae took him from me, and what did the Crescents do? Nothing. Look at him, Siobhan. Look at him!”

“Look at who?”

“My husband!”

She forced me to look at the charred and bloody remains of what was once Boone’s father. Twisted, torn, unrecognizable.

“I’m not Siobhan,” I said. “I’m Skye.”

“She’s there,” Carman said, shaking me. “Why do you think I needed you to break the curse? Her blood runs in your veins, you naive child. You are Siobhan! Her spirit is so tightly coiled around yours it’s a wonder you don’t choke on her self-righteousness.”

The dreams, the flare-ups in my magic, the ritual, the voices… Aileen was right. Someone was piggybacking on me. If I was a descendant of Siobhan, that also meant that I was related to Carman. Errmm…great. I was pretty sure that meant I’d been about to marry my cousin, and it was even more direct now that I had ancient witch blood.

“I’m here, sister,” I heard myself say.

“Finally.”

“This is folly,” Siobhan murmured. “All this death, sister, and for what end? Revenge is an empty cause.”

“You sealed the doorways. You forced millions into starvation. You trapped our parents on the other side!” Carman scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. “And you stand there and judge me! They murdered Finn!”

“You conspired to steal the power of the fae realm for your own gain. You corrupted your children and forced them into slavery. You were caught and given a choice, sister. Death or exile. Were we wrong to offer it to you?”

“Your mistake was my gain,” she said with a smirk. “You tarnished the Crescent Legacy for all time while giving me the opportunity to rise again.”

“Both worlds would have perished,” Siobhan said, her temper never once rising. “Your actions ignited a war.”

“They started it!” Carman shrieked. “They started it by killing my husband. My one true love. You know all about that…fae-lover.”

“I lost a love that day, too, sister.” Siobhan’s voice cracked, and I felt the wave of despair hit the ancestor who’d melded her spirit with mine. The dreams… Siobhan was going through the door to meet her secret lover! Talk about a soap opera. “We all made sacrifices for the greater good.”

Carman’s face twisted, her cheeks stained with tears. She was heartbroken, the pain of her husband’s death had twisted her into something dark. Her thirst for revenge wouldn’t be complete until both realms were a smoking ruin. The people who took her husband, and the people who denied her revenge. Carman was a world-killer.

“Justify what you did all you like,” she snarled. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me now. I would give my life to see Finn avenged.”

“Sister, please…”

“It’s over, Siobhan. Get used to utter desolation.”

**

My head ached something fierce, not to mention I stung all over.

The backs of my arms were bleeding, and the knees of my jeans were ripped to shreds. Where was I?

Blinking, it took a minute for my vision to clear. Above, I could see familiar snarled branches and red berries. Thousands and thousands of red berries. Cac! I’d been dragged to the ancient hawthorn, which meant…

“I’ve won,” Carman said to no one in particular. “After all this time, I’ve finally won.”

“No…” I moaned, rolling