Seventh Seal: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 7)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  "Exactly. The place is doing amazing."

  Not wanting to jinx it, I smiled and stroked the wall, whispering, "Thank you," to the building around us. Something akin to pride and love flowed into my outstretched fingers.

  Then I did the same to Jason's chest. "Thank you, too. This place wouldn't be an eighth of what it is without you. You are amazing, you are perfect, and I'm keeping you forever."

  He blushed furiously and suddenly became very interested in the froth on his cup of coffee, unable to meet my eyes.

  "All right, I'm outta here." Grabbing my coffee, I planted a quick kiss on the still smiling Jason's lips and headed for the door.

  "Have fun."

  "I doubt it," I answered with a chuckle.

  Chapter 13

  "I do not see why you insist on meeting in this less than sanitary establishment when we both have perfectly good, clean, houses. We could have even met at your office inside that biblio-nightmare across the street." Mother looked around the diner disgustedly and waved her hand in the direction of the bookstore.

  "You don't like the bookstore, Mother?'

  "Your mother doesn't like anything, Child. What did you want to discuss?" Nana slid into the booth and smiled at me across the table.

  "That is untrue, Mothersaurus. I do love a nice hard–"

  "Block of cheese," I finished for her and shot her a dirty look as Marge ambled up behind her. "Sit, Mother."

  She humphed and did as I asked, sitting next to Nana.

  "Mornin', Ladies. Tea, Cathleen?"

  "Please, Margaret."

  "Coffee, Dot?"

  "Coke, actually. I had a coffee at the store." I instantly regretted my words. Marge shot me a look like I'd slept with Herb. The utter look of betrayal was more of a guilt trip than I ever got from my own mother. "On second thought, give me a coffee. I had one of those floofy things they try to pass off as real coffee. I still need a jolt."

  She beamed. "Never understood people's fascination for overpriced coffee flavored cocoa drinks. Silly, if you ask me."

  I had never understood it, either. Until I tried the Unicorn Jizz. Witch's Tit. Whatever. It was sparkly and nummy, and I would definitely order again. "You and me both." I agreed to make peace.

  "And for you, Your Highness?" She shot my mother an evil glare.

  "Whatever weeds you plucked from the parking lot and try to pass off as tea, Dear."

  "My pleasure," Marge answered, sneered, and headed for the kitchen.

  "What the fuck happened between you two?" I blinked in disbelief. They'd never been chummy, but that was a far cry from open hostility.

  "I may have mentioned that someone forgot to remove the saddle before grinding the poor animal into Salisbury steak."

  "You what?"

  Nana started chuckling.

  Mother looked at me like I was an idiot. I mean, that's how she usually looked at me, but even more so than usual. "I told her that the Salisbury steak tasted like horse."

  "That's not all," Nana said with a bray of laughter.

  I put my face in my hand and rubbed my eyebrows vigorously. "What did you do, Mother?"

  She sighed. "I may have mentioned that it was a coincidence that her husband was a coroner…and that's where he and Midge met…"

  "What?"

  Nana was crying and waving her hand in front of her face.

  "You know. The morgue, Daughter?" Mother picked up a menu and started perusing the specials.

  "A table for two she called it!" Nana had given up trying to hold it in.

  I looked over at the window to the kitchen. Marge was yelling something at Herb in a hushed but angry tirade, pointing in our direction.

  "Mother? Why is it that you just can't be human for once in your life?"

  "Because I'm a witch, Dear," she answered without looking at me from over her menu.

  "Do I even want to know what happened?" I'd given up on Mother and asked Nana.

  "She accidentally spilled a hot open-faced turkey platter in your mother's lap!"

  Marge headed back in our direction, and for the first time I noticed her limp. "Mother? What did you do?"

  "Nothing."

  "Mother?"

  Without a word, Marge set our drinks down on the edge of the table, muttered something about being right back, and headed for the back of the restaurant. Hopefully, not to arm herself.

  "What did you do?" I hissed the question.

  "Gave her a penis."

  "Why is she fucking limping, Mother?"

  "It was a big penis dear. I can't imagine trying to walk with that thing tucked wherever she hid the damn thing. If Herb is limping, I guess we'd know the answer to that question."

  Nana spilled her tea.

  I stared in horrified shock.

  My mother wiggled her eyebrows at me over the menu.

  "Fuck me."

  "That's what he said!"

  Somewhat composed, Marge came out of the back and pulled out her ordering book as she tilted her head at Nana.

  "I'll have the pork cutlet with mashed potatoes, please."

  She nodded, wrote it down and looked at me. "Dot?"

  Reaching out, I touched her arm and whispered, "Mar a bhí tú." I watched as Marge visibly shuddered and I tried very hard not to think about what was going on under her teal skirt. "I'll have a burger, please."

  "Thank you," she mouthed the words, giving me a look of utter gratitude, and shot my mother a disgusted look. "What do you want, Hagdeline?"

  "I'll have the Salisbury horse steak."

  "I thought you didn't like it?"

  "The bits and reins were rather distracting, but on a whole, the meal was almost edible, Barge."

  "Huh. Thought you would be used to having a bit in your mouth."

  "Only when I'm being ridden, Dear." Mother smiled saucily and handed Marge the menu.

  "Oh. Then you must not be used to wearing one." Marge smiled back and took our order to the kitchen.

  All in all, I was quite proud of Marge. If I were keeping score, I might have even said the match went to her. If I could just get my mother from altering her reproductive organs in the future, that would definitely be a win.

  "Mother. Knock it the fuck off. She's good people."

  "But she's still people, Darling."

  And there it was.

  The mood at the table shifted as I frowned at my mother. Nana could feel the storm coming and became very interested in the happenings outside the diner window.

  "Don't you ever fucking say that again, Mother."

  "Watch your tone, Daughter." She wasn't even trying to look sorry as she stared me down over the table.

  "I will not watch my fucking tone," I hissed back at her. "You're as bad as they are."

  "Who?"

  "The humans that hate us. The ones that used to round us up with pitchforks and torches. The ones that spray paint our garages and want to gather us up in the center square and burn us because we're different."

  "I don't want to burn anybody, Dear."

  "The hell you don't." I lowered my head closer to the table as if that would help keep my whispers from being overheard. "Those two people right there," I paused and pointed at the window to the kitchen, "have done more good for the people of this town than I could ever hope to do. So, if you're going to be a racist asshole, go the fuck home, Mother. Go back to Ashville, fix your broken fucking coven, and stay out of my life."

  Power slid down her arms as the anger flared in her eyes. I swear there was a low rumble of thunder that spread through the diner. "I said, watch your tone, Daughter."

  "And I should have been a little clearer. Fuck off, Mother."

  It had been a long time coming. Truth be told, I was afraid. Afraid of both my mother and my grandmother. Their power was immeasurable. Against a couple platoons of marines, I would have bet all my money on the two of them without a second thought. For the first time in my life, my anger outweighed my better judgement.

  The lights a
bove us dimmed as the shadows pulled from beneath every table and corner in the diner. The windows darkened as the sky blackened. Somebody in a booth on the far end of the diner screamed as they looked out the window at the overhead sun. Their fear only fueled my fire.

  "Knock it off, the both of you." Nana slapped us both in the head. When the shadows abated and the sky cleared, only then did she shoot us a reproving look. "Daughter, Dorothea is right. I think it is time for you to leave."

  "What?"

  "You heard me. Go. Goddess knows what her purpose was bidding you to stay, but the benefits could not possibly outweigh your moronic outlook on life. I did not raise you to look down your nose at mortals. Your power, and your position, have gone to your head. How they got through that thick skull of yours, I shall never know. But go." She pointed at the door.

  "Are you serious?"

  Nana nodded.

  Mother looked back at me and found only a smoldering glare. The slap Nana had placed upside my head hadn't shocked me into forgiveness, it had only stopped me from doing something monumentally stupid. For that, I was grateful.

  Without a word, my mother got up and burst through the diner door without so much as a single word.

  You could feel the tension drain from the diner when she was gone. "Well. That went well." Nana shot me a reproving look.

  "What?"

  "I may have sided with you, Granddaughter, but that does not put you in the right."

  "Are you kidding me, Nana? She was being a stodgy elitist douche."

  "She was. That is why I agreed with you. However, you lack the experience to wage a war with your mother in a town full of innocent people." She motioned to the people behind us.

  "Huh?"

  "In all our disputes over hundreds of years, how many people do you think were injured in our squabbles?" She cocked an eyebrow at me.

  "Uh…none?"

  "Precisely. And do you think you could accomplish the same?" The disappointment in her look and voice was real. "Especially with all these newfound powers that you can't control? You blotted out the sun, Granddaughter."

  "Just for a moment."

  Nana just shook her head.

  "Everything okay?" Marge asked gingerly as she brought out our food, minus one plate. "Should I keep the other one hot in case she comes back?"

  "Everything's fine. Just scolded my daughter for her prank," Nana lied smoothly.

  "Remind me never to get scolded by you." She leaned over to me and whispered, "Thank you." And then she kissed me on my head. It didn't go unnoticed by Nana, either. She smiled as Marge stood up. "So, keep the chop steak?"

  "No. Give it to another customer," I told her.

  "Can't do that. I'll chuck it," she answered.

  "Health code?"

  "Yeah. They get pissy when they find spit in people's food. Refills?"

  Nana and I stared at our plates, shaking our heads.

  "Oh, don't worry. I like you two." She cackled and wandered off.

  "That woman scares me," Nana said deadpan.

  "You and me both."

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "So, what did you wish to talk about, Dorothea?" Nana took my arm as we exited the diner and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. After the incident with Mother, I had gotten sulky. I wasn't feeling guilty, but I regretted starting a fight. It had put me in an untalkative mood, and we'd never gotten around to discussing why I had asked them to lunch in the first place.

  One of the diner patrons walked out of the diner and practically shouldered me out of the way. "Fucking witches," he muttered under his breath.

  I gripped Nana's outstretched hand and lowered it. He wasn't worth it, and after the show we put on in the diner, we didn't need to stand out any more than we already had.

  "I was just going to give him a pig tail."

  "Save it for the crowds bearing pitchforks."

  Nana sighed but nodded. "Fine. So, what is it?"

  "Come on. Let's take a walk."

  Arm in arm, I lead her to the park in Central Square and finally parked us on a worn green park bench facing city hall. Staring at the stone architecture and broken clock, I gathered my thoughts.

  "You saw him."

  "Who?" I asked out of reflex.

  "Your father. I can see it on your face."

  "You're pretty smart for an old bat."

  "Dumb bats don't live long. How?"

  "He showed up in my kitchen."

  "What did he say?"

  "That I was a moron for even thinking about coming to rescue him. Then he forbade it and said goodbye. It felt, I don't know. Final?"

  "And you sought our counsel on the feasibility of your plan?"

  "Do you think I should go through with it?"

  "If I thought you had a bat's ass chance in Hades of convincing Belenus to get you there, I would. But she put him there, Granddaughter. I thought maybe we could find another guide to cross you through the Ethereum, but there isn't a god or goddess that would or could."

  "She's right, Sister."

  Nana and I both froze. My grandmother might not have recognized Candace's voice, but she could feel the power of the goddess behind us. And we both stared as she walked around the park bench and settled down between us. Nana looked at me in wild shock over Candace's head.

  We sat for a moment as she lifted her head to the sun, smiled. And sniffed the cold air around us. We'd hit a warm patch, and had a snow melt, but it was still winter in Upstate New York. What she was smelling, I didn't have a clue. The snot was frozen inside my head and I wouldn't have been able to smell a burger under my nose.

  "There are times that I do miss walking this world." The goddess smiled up at me.

  Without thinking about it, I returned her smile with a gentle pat on the leg. Power flowed through the touch and almost shocked me, numbing the tips of my already frozen fingers. She, however, was sitting on the park bench without so much as a jacket.

  "So…uh…what brings you to the mortal realm?"

  "It is not every day that a new god is born. I thought I would come pay my respects."

  "Huh?"

  "Did you think you could come into your power and think that the whole universe wouldn't feel it, Sister? Your tryst with all of your spheres broke your seventh seal, the one imparting godhood."

  "Uh…that was just some freaky shit with my father's spheres and some…uh…intercourse gone wrong."

  "That wasn't your father's power, Dorothea. It was yours."

  "Excuse me?" I blinked down at her doe-like eyes, confusion warring with fear.

  "What are gods, Dorothea?"

  "She skipped that day in class," Nana quipped.

  I shot her a dirty look over Candace's head. "It was just yesterday that I found out where little witches came from. I haven't got a clue where gods come from, Lady." I bowed my head in a little respect.

  "The elder gods aren't born. They're made. Forces of nature, creatures and people of immense power, even weapons have become gods. The only thing they need is people worshiping them."

  "Like movie stars?" I blinked in confusion.

  "No. Humans, for the most part, stopped worshipping and believing in gods a long time ago. They worship their gold, their coins, and ideals that give them the belief they are better than their neighbor. They don't want to believe in gods. They want to believe they are right."

  "They want to fear and believe in their righteousness," I added sadly. All too familiar with the issue.

  "Exactly."

  "Well, nobody worships me. I can't be a god."

  Both the goddess and my grandmother laughed.

  "What?"

  "Child, you collect people who believe in you and love you with all the power of their people behind them."

  "Huh?"

  "Think of a god as a pentagram." She drew one in the air in front of us with her fingers. Glowing golden trails followed her fingers until the encircled five-pointed star hovered and stayed. People passing by did a doubletake
and hurried away. I fought the urge to rub the bridge of my nose. "The four points below are the spheres. The apex is the god. The quintessence. That is you."

  A sinking feeling welled up inside me. "And my four spheres are the dark elves, the demons, the shadows, and the vampires."

  "Yes. Just like your father."

  "How do you know it wasn't just his powers reacting with my lovers?"

  "Because his powers are gone."

  "Gone?"

  "No longer inside you."

  "Where'd they go?"

  "I do not know. If I had to wager a guess, they went exactly where you wanted them to go."

  "Back to him?"

  She looked at me like I was stupid. I knew, because I got that look a lot. "No. You would've had to have given them to him personally to do that. What was your plan?"

  "To put them into the gem."

  "Exactly."

  There was a glowing red ruby in the jewelry box on my dresser that I really needed to put in a safety deposit box. In Fort Knox. Staring at her in amazement, I started hyperventilating. "Why?"

  "Why what, Sister?"

  "Why does this shit keep happening to me?" Leaning forward, I put my head between my knees and sucked in lung burning gulps of frigid air.

  The goddess placed Candace's hand on my back, and I was immediately filled with warmth and love as she stroked me comfortingly. "The universe gets what the universe needs."

  "Needs, not wants?"

  "Times have changed. People and races have changed. They need a hero. A savior. Someone to guide."

  "Isn't that you?"

  "My spheres do not reach the darker races. You are their goddess."

  "I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but I'm just a Dot."

  Nana humphed. "You are a Blackwell, Child."

  Instead of taking offense, the goddess nodded and smiled at Nana. "Tis true. She has the blood of more than one god running through her mortal veins."