The Windhaven Witches Omnibus Edition : Complete Paranormal Suspense Series, Books 1-4 by Carissa Andrews (graded readers txt) 📕

His father knew this was coming. He knew how big this was about to become and how devastating it would truly be. There were so many ways he tried to stop it from coming to pass, but he had one fail-safe.

This box.

There’s no way he entrusted me with Pandora’s Box, a box that can trap sins and the evil of this world, simply to save my own family.

No, it’s much, much bigger than that—and I intend to see it through.

Settling into the energy of the box, my fingertips work swiftly to unlock the wooden puzzle. As it begins to open, one small wooden component at a time, the gravity of this situation consumes me.

This is what I was made for. Understanding the delicate balance of life and death…knowing how important it is to wield the power wisely was only the beginning. It brought me into alignment with my ultimate destiny—to put an end to fate itself.

I need to consume the sins of the Moirai.

Chapter 24

The Box

The vibration in the air reaches a fever pitch as the box gets closer to opening fully. The power of the box is evident, and even if it’s not Pandora’s Box, whatever it is, it has the ability to cause some serious damage. Each piece slides back and forth, operating in tandem like a wooden Rubik’s Cube.

For a moment, the pounding on the other side of the door ceases and shouts erupt in the hallway. I look up just in time to see the Horseman lifted off of his feet and flung away from the tiny hospital door window. Tiles, boards, and steel beams follow after him and instinctively, I know this is the work of Colton and his abilities. At this moment, I couldn’t be more grateful to have him here. I just hope I have it in me to make their efforts and any sacrifices worth it.

Diana yells something, but I can’t make out her words over the sounds of crunching metal and debris. Shuddering away the images it conjures, I take a deep breath and turn back to the box.

My vision shows me the final three moves and I continue quickly until I remove the final piece. The top of the box opens like a time-lapse video of a flower opening. Bright-white light spews from the opening, making me shield my eyes with the back of my right hand.

Mom twists around, shielding her eyes as well.

The lights in the room dim, then flicker off as the box creates a sort of energy vacuum. The hairs all over my body stand on end, but I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from the white light. It’s as if I could just crawl into it and stay there forever.

Maybe I should just…

“Close the box,” Mom yells, dropping her arms, and racing toward me. “You can’t have it open until you’re ready. It’s too dangerous.”

She reaches forward, pressing her hands to the top components, and forcing them closed one by one. As the last piece locks down, the light instantly goes out, plunging us into semi-darkness. It only lasts a moment because emergency lighting suddenly floods into the room, casting a strange orange-and-red glow.

“That was close. Thank you,” I mutter, shaking my head. “I don’t know what came over me. I couldn’t look away from the light.”

“Its magick resonates with you. You’ll need to be more careful,” Mom says, pulling her shaking extremities back from the box. Her hands are charred black as the skin burns from her fingertips to her forearms.

“Mom,” I gasp, nearly dropping the box. “Your hands.”

She returns her determined gaze to me and holds out a burnt palm between us. “Forget it. They will heal. Focus on your mission. There’s a homicidal Horseman on the loose and we don’t want to be on the receiving end of whatever he has in mind. Trust me.”

My mouth snaps shut, and I nod. She’s right. Besides, if this goes the way I think it will, none of this will matter. What I’m about to do could alter everything.

Swallowing hard, I soften my focus on her hands and look past them to the commotion in the hallway. I can make out Diana and Cat, but Colton must be somewhere near the Horseman. Blood is smattered against the side of Diana’s face, but her expression is as fierce as ever.

I can’t believe any of this. It’s like a nightmare beyond anything I could have imagined. Wade’s gone and his body has become a Horseman for the end of days.

The box is in my periphery, reminding me of everything that needs to happen and why.

Turning back to Mom, I fight back angry tears and say, “I might need your help for what comes next. We need to get the Fates here.”

“The Moirai?” she says, clearly startled. “Why?”

“Because I’m taking them down,” I say, my jaw firm. “It’s the only way this ends. I think that’s what Wade’s father wanted me to do. I think this box is meant to trap their sins—their discretions. But it’s too big for me to do it alone, so it needed to be housed somewhere else.”

Her eyes are wide, hazel orbs. “Are you sure?”

“Not really, but I have to try,” I say. “Can you help me? I don’t know if I can do it alone.”

Dropping to her knees beside me, she nods. “If you want to summon the Moirai, it requires a lot of power. But the Moirai are bound by the laws of the Ancients. In many ways, they’re more susceptible to the pull of magick than even you and I are. If we summon them forth with clear intention, they should be forced to heed our call.”

All of a sudden, the commotion on the other side of the hospital room door kicks up again. By the looks of it, the Horseman has managed to break free from whatever Colton and the others were doing. Colton’s form flies through the air and the backlash from this turn of