CHAPTER THIRTY

As the sun returned, Rikki's followers were holding the ritual she'd been waiting for. The power of the day was perfect for her to officially be crowned as Erica Vitti's true descendant. They gathered in the basement of a house that no longer stood. Rachel had turned it into a formidable ritual space and Rikki could feel the power.

She was still angry that some of her followers had attacked Camelot and killed his father, but she'd chosen to allow them to live because she knew she needed to have as many followers as possible, and they were still loyal to her despite their misguided actions.

"Welcome, everyone!" Archibald said grandly. "I'm so pleased you could all make it here tonight to witness something truly remarkable."

"Are we ready to begin?" Rachel asked.

"Wait," Rikki said. "Where's Amos?"

"I'm afraid that Amos White has turned on us," Katrina replied. "He no longer agrees with our methods. I'm sure he'll come back once he realizes we've been successful."

"Then let us begin," Rikki replied a bit sadly. She had come to view Amos as one of her most trustworthy followers, yet he'd been part of the plot to kill Camelot. The fact that he appeared to be showing remorse actually made her trust him more.

"This is your moment, my child," Rachel said. "You have worked very hard to get here, and I'm sure your grandmother would be proud."

"Thank you, Rachel," she replied. She closed her eyes and began to focus. She cut her palm and began the summoning spell. "Bring the traitorous imposter here!" She commanded.

The portal which opened up showed a bedroom. Cierra let out a cry of alarm as Wes and Archibald raced into the room and grabbed her.

"Don't you touch her!" Chad shouted as he tried to hex them.

Renata blew a kiss at him that sent an herb into his face. Chad immediately fell unconscious. "Chad! What did you do to him?" Cierra demanded as she was dragged into the circle.

"Relax, Traitor," Renata replied with a laugh. Mr. Ko quickly grabbed his son and brought him into the circle before the portal closed.

"Renata, this is my son," Mr. Ko said in obvious anger.

"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Ko. It was just powdered valerian root mixed with lavender, chamomile, and peppermint. He'll be fine when he wakes up. I'm not trying to kill him, but we can't risk him interfering tonight."

Cierra looked at Rikki and demanded, "What is this?"

"My ascension," Rikki replied. "And to take my place on the throne, I have to eliminate you."

"I'm not going to let you kill me, Rikki," Cierra said firmly.

"You can't stop me, Cierra. You aren't strong enough, especially after you apparently finally broke your celestial spell."

"Listen to me... You don't have to do this."

"I'm aware of that. I want to."

"They murdered Chase and tried to kill Camelot, Rikki! Cam's done nothing but defend you. He believes in you. Don't you care?"

"They know where I stand on that. They were misguided. Now, stop talking. We've got a ritual to complete." With that, Rikki began the ritual.

~*~

Corey, Jade, and Joey were sitting on the waterfront when Jade realized that something was wrong. "Cierra's in trouble," she said.

"No way! How unusual," Corey replied with a laugh before he turned serious. "How bad is it?" He asked.

"I think Rikki and her followers have her... And maybe Chad. I can't fully make out her thoughts. She's too frantic."

"Can you see anything that she's seeing?"

"Yeah... She's in a basement. It feels... wrong, Corey. Like something really evil happened there."

Suddenly, Corey looked terrified. "We have to get to them," he said. "I know where they are."

"I help, Mama?" Joey asked.

"Not this time, baby," Jade replied. "Go to Clarissa, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed. He vanished.

"Come on," Corey said. "We're not that far."

"Where are they, Corey?"

He sighed. "In the house where Becca died. We have to hurry. I'm supposed to save Cierra. This must be what Deirdre meant."

They started running, knowing their time was limited. Jade hoped they'd get there before it was too late.

When they arrived at the abandoned plot of land, Jade spotted Alex searching the area frantically. "Scroll?" She asked.

"Scroll," he confirmed. "What's going on? All it told me is that Cierra's in danger... Again. At least it gave me a general idea of the location this time."

"I heard her thoughts. Rikki has her, and I think Chad's here, too. Rikki's followers are conducting some kind of ritual... Cierra's pretty freaked out, which is making it harder to read her mind."

"I feel magick beneath us, so there must be a hidden basement, but how are we supposed to access it?" Alex asked.

"I think I know how to get us in there," Corey replied. "Follow me."

~*~

The ritual was in full swing. Rikki couldn't believe how much power she felt. Cierra was restrained and powerless to do more than struggle pointlessly as she tried and failed to free herself.

"And now, for the final sacrifice," Katrina said as she produced a dagger that radiated with magick. Rikki reached for it, mentally preparing herself for the fact that she was going to have to plunge it into Cierra's heart, but Katrina didn't hand it to her. Instead, Archibald took it from her and raised it into the air. He began whispering an incantation, and Rikki knew it must be meant to charge the dagger for its intended purpose.

Rikki was stunned when Archibald suddenly plunged the dagger into her chest. She screamed in pain as her magick began pouring out of her and into the dagger. She was bleeding pretty badly and knew she was in serious trouble.

"Archie..." She said in confusion as he restrained her in his arms. "Why?"

"It's very simple, my dear," Rachel replied instead of letting Archibald answer the question. "This has always been your purpose."

Rikki realized then that her followers had been planning to kill her all along. "But... You were my grandmother's best friend, Rachel!" Rikki said in horror. "How could you?"

"It isn't personal, dear. You're the second-born. Cierra Denton, as insignificant as she may be, is meant to be the heir to the throne. Your purpose lies elsewhere."

"What do you mean?" Rikki demanded.

"Through your sacrifice, we will resurrect the true leader of the Eight Spokes Society," Renata said with a laugh. "Then we won't need you or Cierra anymore."

That was when Rikki realized a body was forming in the flames at the center of the ritual. "I don't understand," she said.

"Erica Vitti must rise again," Rachel explained. "It is the only way, and in order to bring her back, we needed the very blood which once flowed through her veins." She took the dagger that Archibald had plunged into Rikki's heart and stabbed her a second time.

"No!" Cierra shouted. "Leave her alone!"

Renata took her turn stabbing Rikki before handing the dagger to Wes. He hesitated. Rikki felt him cast a subtle spell. She watched the dagger enter her body again, but she didn't feel anything, and she understood that he'd cast an illusion so his mother and sister would believe that he'd done his job.

I'm sorry, he thought to her. That's the most I can do for you.

You don't want to kill me, she realized. He nodded subtly. Apparently, the fact that he'd helped train her when she was younger had made him reluctant to hurt her. Maybe he does have a heart after all, she thought to herself.

It didn't matter. There were plenty of other warlocks ready to kill her. Katrina took her turn before passing the dagger to Mr. Ko. He frowned. "My apologies, Rikki, but there's no turning back now," he said. He stabbed her before passing the dagger to the next warlock.

Rikki was in too much pain to think straight. She didn't know how she could possibly get herself out of this situation.

"I said leave her alone!" Cierra screamed. Her restraints burned off of her as she ran toward the center of the circle. The warlock who'd been about to stab Rikki screamed in pain as electricity shot through him. Rikki watched in confusion as he turned to nothing but dust. Cierra continued smiting warlocks until the ones who remained finally backed away from Rikki.

A hole opened in the ground and Rikki felt herself falling toward it. She screamed as she started to fall into the darkness, but she felt a hand grab onto her. "Don't let go!" Cierra said.

Rikki clung to her older sister's hand. "I can't hold on!" She cried as she started to lose her grip.

"I've got you!" Cierra insisted, tightening her hold on Rikki and trying to pull her back up.

"Cierra!" Alex suddenly shouted.

"Alex, help! I can't lift her up!" Cierra cried.

Alex grabbed Rikki's other hand. He looked confused, but he still helped Cierra pull her to safety. As Rikki landed on solid ground, she nearly wept with relief. She was still losing blood, but at least she was no longer falling into an abyss.

"We have to stop the spell!" Cierra said.

"It's too late," Jade replied. "We've got to get out of here, now!"

"I'll carry Chad," Alex said. He hesitated before saying, "What do we do about her?"

"Rikki is coming with us," Cierra said firmly.

"What?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"They just tried to kill her, Alex. She needs help."

"Cierra, she's evil."

"It doesn't matter, Alex!"

As Rachel turned toward them and sent a powerful blast of magick their way, Jade caught the spell in midair, using it as a physical barrier to keep the warlocks away from them. "I can't hold it for long," she said. "She's really strong. We've got to hurry."

"Rikki... Can you walk?" Alex reluctantly asked.

Rikki didn't answer him. She was still losing too much blood, and everything had started to spin. "I'll carry her," Corey said.

"Excuse me?" Jade asked.

"I was wrong, Jade... Deirdre said I had to save the Vitti descendant, and I assumed that she meant Cierra, because why the hell would she want me to save Rikki, right? But I was wrong. Rikki's the one who I'm supposed to help."

Alex picked Chad up and said, "Let's get out of here while we can."

Cierra moved beside Jade and helped her keep the spell in place. "Go, Corey!" Cierra said. "We'll be right behind you!"

Corey picked Rikki up and started running back toward the direction that he, Jade, and Alex had come from. "Joey!" He called. "We could use another door, buddy!"

One appeared, and Alex and Corey hurried through it with their passengers. Cierra looked at Jade. "I'll hold it. You go first. I promise I'll be right behind you," she said.

"I'm not leaving you, Cierra," Jade replied.

"They just tried to kill my little sister, Jade. This is personal. Go. I've got this."

Jade sighed. "Hurry," she said.

"I will," Cierra promised. She watched as Jade left through the door.

Just as the body in the fire sat up, Cierra released Rachel's spell back onto the warlocks. Erica Vitti, now very much in the flesh, smirked at her as she was the only warlock who managed not to get hit by the spell. "I'm impressed," she said as she emerged from the flames. "I knew you would become incredibly strong, Cierra, but I did not expect you to handle this situation so well. Leave with your life, my descendant. I shall see you soon."

Her words sent a chill through Cierra, but she couldn't waste time focusing on them. She jumped into the doorway right before it closed. Everyone was still inside. "We need a healer," Jade said. "Rikki can't die in here because time doesn't exist in this place, but she won't last more than a minute or two if we leave."

"Cierra... It's your call," Alex said. "What do we do?"

"We're saving her life," Cierra said firmly. "One of you, go get help and have Joey bring you back here."

"I'll get Dylan," Corey volunteered. "He's the strongest healer I know."

"Hurry," Jade said. She kissed him and sent him on his way.

"Hang on, Rikki," Cierra said. "You're going to be okay."

Rikki stared at her. "Why?" She asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because you're my sister, Rikki."

"I've done nothing but try to destroy you. Even today, I summoned you to be sacrificed! I was ready to stab you in the heart and take your power for myself. There's something seriously wrong with you if you're trying to help me."

"We're family. That means something to me. Besides, you don't know any better. You were taught to be evil. You've never had anyone show you love or try to help you without ulterior motives. I've been determined to save you ever since I found out you existed."

"She's incredibly stubborn like that," Chad said as he woke up. He yawned and looked around. "I guess I missed the party? That's alright. I wasn't really properly dressed for the occasion anyway." He turned toward Cierra. "Are you okay, girlfriend?"

"I'm fine," Cierra replied. "Rikki's the one they tried to stab to death."

"Oooh, I love a good plot twist!" Chad replied, clapping his hands together in excitement. "Sorry," he added to Rikki. "I just didn't expect that one. Then again, I should have. Warlocks betray. It's who we are."

"I didn't see it coming, either," Rikki admitted. "I thought they were loyal to me, but they just wanted to use me to resurrect my dead ancestor. Those traitors!"

"Hold the phone... What did you just say?"

"Oh, yeah, um... Erica Vitti sort of rose from the dead tonight," Cierra said. "Did I forget to mention that?"

Chad's jaw dropped and stayed that way for about a minute while he blinked in shock until he finally recovered. "Okay... I did not see that coming," he admitted. "You would think, as the guardian of the Vitti bloodline, that someone would give me a head's up when the most infamous member of said bloodline was about to be resurrected, but I suppose that's asking too much."

Corey returned with Dylan. "One healer, ready to help," he said.

"Ready to help, but confused as to why I'm helping this particular person," Dylan admitted. He still set to work on healing Rikki. Her wounds rapidly began to mend as he put as much energy into the task as he could.

"Thanks, Dylan," Cierra said. "I know you're confused, but let's just say that Rikki's had a really bad night."

"So, are you switching sides then?" Dylan asked.

"I'm on my own side," Rikki replied firmly.

"Spoken like a true warlock!" Chad said with a laugh. "But the truth is, with Erica back from the dead, you're going to need us, Rikki... And, as much as I hate to admit it, we need your help, too."

"Wait... Did you just say that Erica Vitti is-?" Dylan began.

Chad put up his hand to stop him. "Yes, and that can be explained later. What matters right now is that this isn't over. The warlocks will retreat for a bit to lick their wounds and to help Erica adjust to being back, but they'll return with a bang, and they'll probably do it sooner rather than later. Add to that the fact that Bartholomew Bryce is loose and we've got a situation that just might end the world, so whether we like it or not, we're all going to have to work together."

Rikki looked like she wanted to protest, but she sighed and said, "He's right. The only way to stop them from destroying Salem and killing all of us is to put aside our differences and unite."

Cierra smiled and offered her hand to Rikki before asking, "Truce?"

Rikki rolled her eyes, but she took Cierra's hand and replied, "For now."

Dylan grinned and declared, "It's a Solstice miracle!"

Jade shook her head and laughed before saying, "Alright, Joey... Bring us home please."

A door opened and the unlikely new allies walked through it together.