by AJ Renee
“Brandy—”
“Mom?” she cried as the woman’s face became clearer. “What’s happening?” The woman’s face mirrored her own.
“Master all the elements, sweetheart. You’re a threat, and he’s coming for you. Ethan can guide your way.”
“In your letter, you said—”
“I didn’t know at the time, but it’s true. Ethan’s an oracle. Tell him everything you’ve learned and keep him safe.”
The wind picked up, and the whirlpool of despair spun faster. Her mother struggled against the force.
“What about Ryan?”
“You can’t escape fate, the same way I couldn’t escape my own. I must go now, before I lead them to you.”
“Mom!” Brandy screamed as she sat up. Sweat covered her, and three pairs of concerned eyes stared at her.
“Mom?” Ethan asked.
Brandy nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks. First the letter and then the dream—or whatever it had been. It was too much.
“Shh… it’s okay, sweetheart,” Ryan whispered against her damp hair as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Peter brought her a glass of water and squeezed in on her other side. His warm hand rubbed her arm as Ryan encouraged her to drink. A few minutes of silence passed, allowing her to calm down from the dream.
“You better, babycakes?” Peter whispered.
Brandy looked from Ryan to Peter and nodded. When her eyes reached Ethan, she noticed he stared at the three of them with an odd expression.
“Hey, E. When’d you get here?”
“Twenty-five minutes ago or so,” he mumbled before his finger wagged back and forth. “Are you three…”
“No!” Brandy and Ryan yelled in horror while Peter chuckled.
“You were dreaming about Mom?”
Ryan squeezed her thigh. “Watch what you say to him,” he warned.
She shook her head at him and gave Ethan a sad smile. “I don’t think it was a dream.” Ethan stared at her, and when he did not respond, she continued. “I can still hear her voice. It was deeper than I imagined growing up. I look like her,” she said and offered Ethan another sad smile. “She wants me to tell you everything.” Tears cascaded down Brandy’s cheeks. The image of the woman she had never met in life, the woman she’d killed by the mere act of living and a woman who even in death protected her, would be forever etched in her mind.
Brandy sucked in a deep breath and calmed the tremors the experience had caused. She told him about the grimoire, the letter, and her powers. Peter and Ryan remained quiet, their cautious eyes wandering from one to the other.
“Rye, it’s so weird. It didn’t feel like a dream, more like a visit.”
Ryan nodded. “I’ve heard of the dead warning the living, but you’re the first person I’ve ever known to experience it.”
“Wait,” Ethan whispered and pushed to his feet. He raised a finger to the air and paced the expanse of the cabin’s living room. “You’re saying I’m a witch?” he asked. She expected his mind was trying to wrap around the information bomb she had dropped on his lap.
“Yes, and so are Ryan and I.”
“What’s he?” Ethan asked, pointing at Peter.
“Sexy as fuck,” Peter said smoothly, making her chuckle and shake her head at her new friend.
Ryan scooted forward on the couch. “Let’s not worry about Peter for now. He’s full of himself as it is. Did she say anything else?”
She lowered her eyes. “I asked her about you…”
The room stilled at her whispered words. After a moment, he squeezed her tightly. “And?”
“And she told me I couldn’t escape my fate.”
For the next hour, they discussed all the things that had happened since her birthday dinner, a party Ethan had missed because he was out of town. She learned he had been struggling to see her since that fateful night. Swamped with work, he had not checked in much on any of them. The couple of times he had seen Brandy, it was enough to know she finally left Greg, was sick, and then nothing.
“How long have you been able to see stuff? Why didn’t you ever tell us?”
Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “Bran, I can’t always turn this on. It’s strange how I can tune in, and frankly, I didn’t believe it myself and I was living it. Some days, images come in clearly, while other days not so much. I didn’t really worry about you for this reason, not until I got nothing. I couldn’t even see a grainy image. Normally I can work out a blurry vision of sorts, but suddenly I was disconnected from you. I freaked out, and that’s when I called,” Ethan told her.
She nodded, understanding some the emotions he must have experienced with his visions. After things started moving around, she could not wrap her mind around the possibility she was to blame for it all. Ethan did not have anyone else to guide him through the process.
“So how do you come into play in all of this?” Ethan asked Ryan, pulling her thoughts back into place.
Ryan linked their fingers. “She’s my soul mate.”
“That doesn’t make you engaged. I don’t see a ring on her finger either,” Ethan stated, his big brother voice in place.
“E—”
“It’s fine, sweetheart. He loves you and is trying to make sure you’re okay,” Ryan told her. He reached in his pocket and set a small box on the table, making her gasp. “I asked, but she’s not ready. Until she is, would you mind holding on to this for me?”
Ethan grabbed the box and opened it. From her seat, she could not see the ring. When she thought to move, Ethan shut it and slipped it into his pocket. He nodded at Ryan, and the conversation moved along like the exchange had never happened.
Brandy missed most of what was said as she stared at the spot on the table where Ryan had put the box. She did not know there was a ring. He had not pulled it out when he got down on one knee.
Peter stiffened next to her, drawing her from her thoughts. “I’m going for a run,” he announced, sharing a look with Ryan.
Ethan moved to the seat Peter vacated, but when Ethan sat, he froze, his eyes wide as he stared in the direction Peter went. “What the hell is he?”
Looking out the window, she laughed at the sight of Peter’s fluffy tail as he ran away. “Werewolf. Would you like to see the family grimoire?”
She did not blink at how comfortable it was to transition from one absurd topic to the other. Weeks ago, neither had existed in her life, but her time at the cabin had allowed her to find some semblance of peace with the two. It was the rest she was trying to figure out.
Ethan gave her a slow nod as he whispered, “Werewolf.”
After showing him to the room, she removed the charm she had learned to keep the book hidden.
Ryan stopped her at the door and kissed her temple. “I’ll let you two have some time together to catch up. I’m going to head out and check those wards again.”
Placing a hand on his arm, she whispered, “Be careful.”
Ryan nodded and gave Ethan a quick glance before turning on his heel. Brandy shut the door and walked to the dresser. Bending, she opened the second from the last drawer and removed the normal-looking, leather-bound book.
Ethan took in the room around them. It was plain to her tastes, but she guessed for a man, it perfectly suited the needs of a bedroom.
She carried the book to the bed and patted the spot next to her. Ethan had always been her quiet brother. He was also her closest confidant and best friend of the batch. Bonding over a piece of their hidden history felt sacred.
She pulled out the folded paper from the front and shut the book. “This letter and the grimoire arrived a few days after my birthday.”
His hand shook as he reached out for the letter. When it touched his skin, his eyes widened with surprise. “It really is from Mom.” Ethan’s stunned eyes met hers. “She held me as she wrote it.”
“You saw it?”
Ethan nodded and unfolded the paper. She slipped her hand in his, needing the
comfort as much as he did. They sat in silence while he read each word their mother wrote.
A few minutes later, he caressed the thin, now-folded paper and sighed. She remained silent as he raised his fingers to his face and wiped away a few loose tears. Their mother’s letter had affected him as strongly as it had her. He had never gotten to know the woman either.
“I always thought I was imagining it,” Ethan whispered sometime later. “As I got older and no one else spoke of weird things, I kept it to myself.”
“At least it was a gradual thing for you. It was entirely sudden for me and then the attacks began.”
“Yeah, but it made me feel so alone,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
Brandy recalled the fear and loneliness she had lived with before Ryan guided her through it all. She could not imagine what Ethan must have gone through all his years with no understanding of his powers. Her heart squeezed at the mere thought.
Chapter 17
Walking out onto the deck, Ryan focused his energy on the area around the cabin. Peter had run off to the northwest and would return with whatever information had caused him to bail.
Turning his back on the forest, Ryan muttered the incantation to the ward on the cabin. It was one of many he was using. This one would make the cabin look like any other area of the forest. It also ensured no curious hikers would explore it.
Leaving Brandy and Ethan behind, he jogged out one hundred yards. He used a revealing charm to verify the ward had not been tampered with. Relief flooded him when there was no damage to the shimmering sheet of magic. Satisfied with what he found, he hid it and moved on to the next ward.
He did this four more times. Each ward was at a different distance from the cabin. Approaching the farthest ward, he spotted droplets of blood on the disturbed leaves. The next charm confirmed someone had been out there. Lucky for them, the person had not known what they’d stumbled across.
The defensive spell he set in place in case of tampering would have electrocuted the person. The shocks would have knocked them out. The spell was meant for a supernatural person, as a human would not have neared the area without being influenced.
After thinking of a variety of spells he could use to drive a person away, he opted on a defensive spell. This time, the intruder would see their worst fear and flee the area.
Silence surrounded him as he checked the perimeter of the farthest ward, searching for the owner of the blood. Ryan’s breath slowed as he spotted the tent from a few days ago. It barely stood. Its walls were tattered, and blood was smeared across the fabric. Studying the rest of the area, he determined it was safe to approach the tent. The woods around him were still. In the distance, birds sang and a squirrel ran up a tree about ten yards out.
Nearing the mess, he smelled more blood before spotting the foot sticking out of a blanket. The tension in Ryan’s body ramped up. With a wave of his hand, he saw into the tent. A man lay on his back, his eyes glossy, the horror he had experienced still frozen on his face. His throat had been ripped out, and blood soaked the earth through the slashed tent floor. The woman who accompanied the man when Ryan had come across them was nowhere in the destruction.
“Was she here during the attack?” Ryan muttered to himself.
It would not take long before another hiker came upon the body and called the rangers. A day, two at max, before two families would be destroyed with the loss of their loved one. The report would read bear attack, but he knew better. A bear had not taken the man’s life. If the woman was still alive, and it was a big if, she was now a plaything for her worst nightmare.
He circled the campsite but did not find any more blood or the woman. Ryan cleared any evidence of his presence before finishing his rounds, itching with the need to return to Brandy. He sighed with relief when there were no other signs of victims of the intruder.
The man’s death would stay with him for a long time. Something was out there looking for them, for Brandy. The man and woman had been innocent bystanders. He blamed himself for suggesting they come out here, inadvertently putting them and others in danger.
“We’ve got a big problem,” Peter growled as he caught up to him.
Ryan agreed. “Yeah. We need to move.”
“What did you find?” Peter asked, as he slipped one leg into the jeans he had discarded by the cabin.
“The campers at the western point? He’s dead, and she’s gone. Someone hit the farthest ward as well,” Ryan told him.
Peter zipped his jeans and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “It’s worse than a poor couple being killed.”
The hair on Ryan’s body stood to attention. “Tell me.”
“Brandy said it was a werewolf who attacked her that night? It was a fucking lycan. I wasn’t sure I smelled it on her then, but I just caught its scent. That’s who took the woman and killed the man.”
“Fucking hell…” Ryan scrubbed his face. “I’d really hoped it was a were and not worse. Please tell me you caught the trail of only one.”
Peter leaned against the banister and stared at the cabin. “Wish I could, but I can’t. I left because I heard the howl. There are three of them in these woods. Someone more powerful, possibly the person they report to, has been here at least one time by the southwest end of the forest. They have a witch working with them, and I think they’re joined by two werewolves.”
Ryan’s eyes rounded. “Weres steer clear of demons.”
Peter looked at him with a “no shit” stare.
“She’s getting stronger,” Ryan whispered in awe. “That much power must be drawing them in without trying.”
Peter chuckled. “She’s amazing. We’ll keep her safe, even if I die protecting her.”
The comment made Ryan study his friend. He was glad to have Peter on their side, but he could not help but wonder how far Peter’s feelings for her went.
“You’re a lovesick bastard. Stop looking at me like that. She’s family and no one’s going to take her from you.” Peter raised his arm toward the cabin. “Now, you be a good witch and let your feisty woman know we have to move.”
Chapter 18
A coven of families lived in a small village, cloaked by magic. A place where it was safe to practice their goddess-given gifts. Occasionally, new families joined their coven. One of those families’ sons was named Erik.
Erik fell in love with Cassandra Broderick, even though his family had arranged for him to marry Suzanna, another family’s daughter. Erik and Cassandra reached out to one of their friends, and they were handfasted in secret. They consummated their vows that evening under the full moon so no one would challenge their union. Their marriage was kept a secret for a month as they tried to find a reasonable way to sway his parents. Only, the coven’s oracle learned of the child growing in Cassandra’s womb.
Suzanna was eventually paired with a different man. An unkind, older man who treated her like property, the opposite of what their coven believed. Her anger and jealousy over Erik and Cassandra’s happy marriage grew over the years.
When Cassandra delivered a healthy, sixth child, never mourning the loss of any of her children, Suzanna could take no more. She herself had buried four children, and with each loss, her bitterness grew. She aimed the hatred in her heart at the woman who had stolen her betrothed.
After celebrating Beltane with the coven, Suzanna gathered her things and moved far into the forest. There, she created her altar and performed her own ritual—a curse, that Cassandra would deliver a healthy daughter, her seventh child, but one Cassandra would not live to raise. Cassandra’s children would never grow old with her love.
Suzanna made sure the family line would suffer until days end for what Cassandra had taken from her. Since then, not one mother has lived to meet her seventh child. Many tried removing the curse. Unsuccessful at undoing the spell, they avoided having more children but failed.
Drunk on her hate, Suzanna had bragged to Cassandra, telling her what she had done in the wo
ods. Many of the elders attempted to remove it with no success. Needing to balance the harm placed on the family line, the elders worked in secret and placed a blessing on Erik and Cassandra’s children.
When it was time to dispense Suzanna’s punishment for her betrayal of one of their own, the elders agreed to put Suzanna to death. Cassandra begged them not to but to rather banish her and her family from the coven instead. She refused to punish Suzanna’s children, no matter what Suzanna had set in motion for her own.
Before Suzanna and her family’s removal, her own family bound her powers to prevent her from hurting another.
The families of the coven were distraught over Suzanna’s crime. When Cassandra died, the village helped Erik raise his children. He never married again, as he refused to love another. He joined Cassandra a month after their youngest, Annabelle, married, unable to watch the curse take another woman he loved.
“I don’t get it. One, why the hell does anyone want that many kids? Two, if you know having a kid will kill you, why the hell do you have another?” Ethan asked from her side. They had been working together and studying the grimoire for hours, learning more about their family line and the enemies who were a threat to them.
“Yeah, it makes no sense. Wait, didn’t Dad say Mom had three sisters and no brothers? That doesn’t add up,” Brandy muttered and flipped through the pages.
“Stop, go back.” Ethan grabbed a few pages and flipped them to whatever he had seen. “Look, here.”
The curse is stronger than we believed. Cassandra was a rare breed in our family to not lose a child. Annabelle was not so lucky. When she was pregnant with her fourth child, a daughter, she believed to have many years ahead. Only then did the family learn miscarriages and early deaths counted into the magic of the curse.
Then came Caitlyn who refused to fall in love. Unfortunately for her, she met her soul mate and the power of their love was too hard to resist. She gave birth to two healthy children with her husband, Richard. They attempted to avoid intercourse, even going so far as suggesting her husband should have his needs met at the brothel a town over.