Sisters of Moonlight Read online

  ‘Relax.’

  It was Alice’s voice, but it didn’t come from her friend sitting next to her. Instead, it reverberated around her head, inside her skull. She felt Alice, real Alice, take her hand. With their hands clasped, she could feel the unmistakable flickerings of their red and golden magic arcing between their fingers, like the heat of a candle’s flame dancing beneath a curious hand.

  The deafening ringing grew to a crescendo, and Lily felt herself falling deep into the lost recesses of her mind. Falling, falling, falling into the swirling mists of Alice’s magic.

  When Lily opened her eyes once more, it was no longer her own vision she could see, but Alice’s.

  Tendrils of icy mist obscured the outer edges of Lily’s sight, which was the only indication that she was wandering through Alice’s mind. The vision reminded Lily of the time a travelling company of performers had rolled into sleepy Alder Vale, and with them came their very own picture-taker. His device, a strange contraption that captured people forever and immortalised them on a thick piece of paper, had been heavier than a felled oak, or so it had felt to eight-year-old Lily. She had gazed and gazed at the picture-capturing device and its owner until the man had, either through kindness or simply impatience to be rid of her, allowed her to investigate the strange contraption.

  Uncle Alf had lifted her inelegantly and she had pressed her face against the little piece of glass that nestled delicately within its sturdy casing of brass and wood. She had gasped with glee to see the world reflected back at her. The only difference between that strange world through the contraption and Alice’s mind landscape was that the picture-taker’s device had displayed the world upside down.

  A shimmer in Alice’s vision brought Lily back down into herself. The warmth of the passing memory drained from her as she watched a lone figure walk out of the mist and into full view. It was a woman, with long, thick hair and an irresistible saunter, and the heavy brass bracelets and rings that adorned her arms and hands filled the silence with an eerie, distant clamour. Lily knew this woman before she could even make out the smug face in the darkness.

  Hecate.

  Out of instinct, Lily flinched backwards. She knocked the back of her head on the metal frame of the bed and yelped. The pain reminded her that what she could see was not real. The figure of Hecate came closer regardless, until she stood directly ahead. Hecate chuckled and reached out with her hands; the ends of her fingers looked charred and blackened, as if she’d dipped them in ink, or had spent an evening crawling and clawing through the ashes of a spent fire.

  ‘Alice, my dear.’ Her words flowed from her throat like warm molasses. ‘I’ve missed you.’

  Alice responded in her dream, but Lily couldn’t hear anything other than muffled speech. Lily wondered if Alice was deliberately shielding her own actions so that Lily would judge her less. This omission only made Lily more concerned.

  Whatever Alice had said, Hecate laughed heartily. ‘Now girl, come on. We’re friends, aren’t we? Look at all I helped you achieve. Look at how you’ve grown.’

  More muffled speech from Alice filled the memory.

  ‘I know, my sweet girl. But you never finished your training. You’re only half the witch I know you could be… I know you are. Your darkness is still waiting to truly be revealed. I could teach you to be more than the other girls who sneered at you. I could show you how to make them suffer for their mutterings about your worthiness, about whether you truly deserve Grace. The problem with you and the Rafferty girl was never that you didn’t deserve her. It’s that she could never have deserved you, my dear. Your power is beyond measure, beyond even mine. It would be an honour to pass my knowledge on to you, but more than that, Alice, I have plans to raise you up to be the most powerful woman this world has ever beheld. You will be so far above me that even I will be in awe of you.’

  Hecate stopped speaking and closed her eyes. The vision changed, shifted. Rain dripped over Hecate and she melted into a new vision. It was Alice that Lily could see now. Alice, but different. Alice, but terrifying.

  The Alice of the vision had flames pouring from her fingertips. Her hair was wild and unruly, floating in a strange, eerie aura that blossomed around her head. She floated a few inches off the ground and surrounding her were hundreds of people on their knees, pledging servitude and allegiance. She looked beautiful in the way that a gathering storm on the ocean was beautiful: tainted with the impending horror of what the tempest would bring.

  The vision shifted again to Grace’s face, gazing lovingly at this new all-powerful Alice.

  ‘You’re finally worthy of me,’ Grace of the vision said.

  Lily knew this was ridiculous – as if Grace would ever say something so hurtful. Even in the few weeks she had known Jem’s sister, she had known that Grace, like her brother, was incapable of malice towards those she loved. No, this was Hecate’s doing. But it seemed Alice was convinced otherwise.

  Hecate came back into view, and Lily could feel Alice’s hands grip hers even tighter.

  ‘You still have so much to learn. All of these feelings of anxiety and stress and fear have grown directly from not having enough support, enough training. I can give you that.’

  Hecate’s voice echoed, growing further and further away until it was drowned out by the return of the intense ringing that had signalled the start of this strange projection. Lily rubbed her eyes with deliberate slowness, before mustering the courage to open them once more.

  Blinking in the lamplight, Lily found herself back by Alice’s side, sitting together on her own bed. No Hecate. No terrifyingly powerful Alice. Just the two of them, Sisters of Shadow. Or, Lily mused, Sisters of Moonlight now, after the castle that had become their refuge.

  ‘So… do you understand?’ The question seeped out of Alice, her apprehension clear on her oval face.

  ‘Of course. She’s haunting you, Alice; she’s manipulating you. How often has that kind of vision happened?’

  ‘Every night. Every time I close my eyes longer than a blink, she’s there.’

  Lily began to speak, but was halted by Alice.

  ‘No, listen, you don’t understand. You don’t see it the way I see it, the way she shows me. Lily, she’s offering everything I’ve ever wanted. Everything I never even knew I wanted until I met her, and until I met Grace. To finally feel worthy of her and to have total control of my power, that’s all I want. And she can give it to me.’

  ‘Alice, no…’

  ‘Yes! Don’t you see? This is what was supposed to happen all along. It’s not that I’m ungrateful that you rescued me but… I didn’t need rescuing. I was going through a tough time when you arrived, that’s all. But I was getting stronger; I was taking up my mother’s mantle, before she threw it all away to have me. At least there’s no chance of that happening to me; no, I’m going to complete my training with Hecate until I know everything there is to know.’

  ‘You cannot be serious, Alice. You have to understand that she’s controlling you; you don’t know what you’re saying.’

  ‘No, Lily, you have to understand. This is my chance. You sat with me for so many years and listened to my dreams. You promised to support me, to be my friend. Now, it’s about time you proved that you meant all those words.’ Alice stood, her walls firmly back up, hiding her away once more. ‘You ought to be happy for me,’ she spat.

  Happy for her? Happy that she was about to reverse all of the work Jem and Lily had put into saving her? Happy that she was expected to stand by whilst Alice, intentionally or not, ripped to shreds the heart of Jem’s beloved sister? Lily couldn’t bear it.

  ‘Fine.’ Alice’s voice had grown gruff and venomous. ‘Of course, in your world everything can be fixed by a couple of herbs and a nice big slice of cake. But not me Lily, not this time, and certainly never again.’

  Tears leaked from the corners of Lily’s eyes. She felt her heart tearing open as the realisation that she had lost Alice all over again crept over her. ‘Alice, please,’ she stuttered, reaching out for her best friend’s hands. She felt like a child, like all the strength and confidence she had found over the past weeks had dissipated.

  Alice flinched away. ‘No.’

  ‘It’s her, Alice.’

  Alice’s voice had softened again, as though she had regained her composure. ‘It isn’t, Lil, it’s me. There’s a part of me I still need to find, to nurture. She’s just handing me the key.’

  Lily swallowed, unable to shift the feeling that a rock had rolled out of a river and settled in her throat. ‘Stay for a few more days; get your head straight. You should talk things through with Grace; if you leave now, you may never have the opportunity to love her again, worthy or not. She may never forgive you.’

  Alice wiped a rogue tear off her flushed cheek. ‘All right,’ she conceded, ‘a few more days, at most. But Lily, this is my battle; it’s my way of proving to myself that I deserve her in the first place. When I return, she’ll find a woman standing before her that she can be proud to love.’

  ‘You’ll tell her though, won’t you?’ Lily tried to stop herself from sounding so pathetic, but her voice cracked as she spoke. She had barely processed Glenn’s death… Alice couldn’t do this to her, not now. Could she?

  ‘She’ll think I’m mad; she’ll try to dissuade me, as you did. Your reaction has proven with abundant clarity that my reasons aren’t enough to convince even the cleverest of minds. I don’t really fancy the idea of having to go through this all over again, having to sit through the tears and the begging and the anger and confusion.’ She was growling now as her patience ebbed away. ‘No, when I’m ready, I will just leave. It will be easier for everyone that way.’

  Lily could see that the look in Alice’s eyes was one of pure determination. She was lost to her. Alice pulled Lily into an all-encompassing hug and they held each other for a few moments. It was almost as though nothing had changed. And yet—

  Everything had.

  Chapter Two

  Alice slithered through the castle, hoping not to bump into anyone, keeping her feet light and silent. Her conversation with Lily had thrown her, and the last thing she needed now was more questions or suspicious glances. Morven and Cass had mentioned baking, which meant, in theory, the library would be devoid of people.

  She turned the heavy cast-iron handle of the door and pushed it inwards gently, willing it not to creak. Without looking inwards, she stepped into the library and closed the door, letting it slip silently back onto the latch.

  ‘Nice of you to join me,’ a voice broke through the quiet; Alice’s favourite voice, but right now the words felt like daggers. ‘Maybe today you’ll actually talk to me?’

  Alice turned on the spot and looked the love of her life square in the face. How could she both want to close the gap between them and embrace Grace, but also want to dash out of the library and run until she could run no more? The intensity of her feelings for Grace at Hecate’s lair had merged into the intensity of everything else that was going on. But here, in the quiet of the castle, with nothing to dampen it, the intensity was beyond anything Alice had ever experienced, and she had no idea how to handle it. ‘I… I can’t talk right now.’ Inwardly she cursed herself. How pathetic she sounded, how weak.

  ‘No, you never can, all of a sudden. Remember when we told each other everything? Remember when we talked for hours in your room, with no boundaries, no hesitation. What could I have possibly done to deserve this treatment now?’

  ‘You haven’t done anything,’ Alice whispered. She could feel the bile rising in her throat. ‘You haven’t done anything at all, I promise.’

  ‘Then explain yourself, Alice! Let me help you. Don’t shut me out.’ Grace’s face was flushed, but her eyes were dark and venomous.

  ‘I can’t… I can’t right now, I’m sorry.’ Alice’s face was flooded with tears.

  Hecate’s voice reverberated in her mind, over and over again: You still have so much to learn. All of these feelings of anxiety and stress and fear have grown directly from not having enough support, enough training. I can give you that.

  ‘I need…’ She couldn’t find the words to make it make sense. She needed to learn to be strong. She needed the support Hecate promised. She needed to be worthy of Grace. She needed to know she wouldn’t be a hindrance in this selfless life Grace had built.

  ‘What? What do you need? Alice, you know I will move mountains to get you what you need! I just need you to be honest with me, for goodness’ sake!’

  ‘STOP SHOUTING!’ Alice roared, before she knew what she was doing. The windows shook violently, threatening to shatter. Books fell from their shelves and crashed to the floor.

  Grace stumbled backwards, stunned.

  Alice knew this was the most aggression she had ever shown Grace, and hated herself for it.

  ‘I don’t know who you are anymore, Alice. You are nothing like the girl I fell in love with. I don’t recognise the person standing in front of me. Where have you gone?’ Grace’s voice was quiet but acerbic.

  I told you it was her that was unworthy, Alice. Now you see I was right. Hecate’s voice rumbled in Alice’s mind, and she found herself unable to ignore it. If she stayed any longer, she would lose Grace forever.

  ‘I understand.’ Alice stared at the scratched wooden floor beneath her scuffed boots. ‘I’m not who you need me to be right now.’ She turned to leave, unable to look at Grace, shame and torment tearing through her body like a torrent.

  ‘Don’t walk away from me, Alice. Please…’ Was Grace crying? Alice couldn’t bear to look, couldn’t bear to listen any longer.

  She had failed her love, and now she had to walk away.

  Chapter Three

  Sprawled across a deep-green checked blanket that contrasted like an oil slick against the fresh snow, Jem Rafferty gazed up at the grey stone walls of the castle with watery eyes. He flicked his gaze between the scene before him and the sketch book clutched loosely in his rough hands. On the page, it was as if he had uncovered a secret history hiding beneath the parchment. The sketch had almost drawn itself – Jem had simply had to let the pencil between his fingers trace the familiar lines until the image appeared like a dusty memory.

  Jem’s thoughts strayed to Glenn, although he tried and tried not to think of him. Jem wondered if he would have liked life in the castle, and then, with a wrench in his gut, remembered that had the lighthouse not burned down, Glenn would still be alive. They’d still be living in their beloved coastal beacon of light, not here in the castle. His heart tremored in his chest at the remembrance of what he’d lost all over again. He tried to bury his feelings and yet, relentlessly, they flooded back to him whenever his defences were compromised by imagination or sentiment.

  The crunch of snow and pebbles beneath heavy boots shook Jem from his daydream. Something swooped uncomfortably in his chest as he watched Lily wander towards him, a delicate and kind expression on her face and a bronze candlestick holder in her hand. She had thrown one of his old, enormous woollen jumpers over her nightgown and her hair probably needed a good brush, although he rather liked it when she looked wild. She made him want to be strong, but he knew how much she’d hate to hear that.

  ‘You’re allowed to feel sad,’ she had told him a hundred times, most recently through the steam of a bubbling cast-iron pan he’d just removed from the grate, ‘and you’re allowed to cry. Pretending otherwise will just make you feel worse in the long run. Who are you hiding from?’

  The world, he had thought to himself. But never her. He knew in his heart of hearts that he didn’t need to hide from her.

  Jem felt Lily’s shoulder brush against his as she lowered herself onto the blanket.

  ‘Hi,’ she whispered, nudging his arm.

  ‘How are they all doing?’ Jem asked, trying to sound casually interested in the children’s wellbeing, instead of like the paranoid father he often felt he was becoming.

  ‘Remarkably well.’ Lily nodded, yawning. ‘Brenna and Maeve have been running me ragged all morning. Morven and Cass are making drop scones on the stove. But then there’s Alice…’

  ‘What about her?’

  ‘She’s unhappy, but she’s not willing to step back and analyse why, or how she can help herself. She’s viewing her time with Hecate through this strange, rosy retrospection, as if she was living in a perfect paradise.’ Lily sighed. Jem wondered if she was holding back some important snippet of information.

  ‘You don’t think she’s going to run away, do you?’

  Lily shrugged, not meeting Jem’s eyes. ‘Who knows. I just hope Grace can pull her back, because I have definitely failed.’

  ‘You haven’t failed at anything, Lil. She’s a grown woman, she will make her own way through life, no matter how hard you try to dissuade her. If I’ve learned anything from letting the children grow and leave, it’s that you are far more likely to maintain your friendship and respect for one another if you relax your grip on her. She won’t thank you for making her decisions. But she will thank you for stepping back and allowing her the freedom to choose, even if we don’t agree with the route she chooses. She’ll always come back to you.’

  Nodding, Lily sniffled. ‘Thanks. I guess you’re right. I suppose I want to protect Grace too, in a way. I can’t bear the thought of this family experiencing any more pain.’

  ‘I know. But… we’ll meet that storm head-on if we need to. But nothing is guaranteed. She could wake up tomorrow and feel instantly restored.’

  Lily nodded again. It was clear to Jem that she didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about this. ‘Anyway, how are you coping?’

  The dreaded question. Jem wondered how almost everyone else could be fine, when he still felt crushed beneath an invisible lead weight.