News of being a witch brought on a heightened confidence level I’d never experienced before. Doing magic with Lisa last night was not only a rush because it was exhilarating but also because I was in charge of nature. I could wield it with my thoughts, my senses, and no one can take it away from me.
The mere fact that I could do something that others only dream of makes me feel different, Powerful.
With that feeling, however, I worried if I was being too cocky. That by believing I’m better than others was like being a magnet for bad Karma.
You are only as good as you prove yourself to be. I heard Dmitri say.
I turned around to see if he was in my room. When I realized he wasn’t there, I giggled to myself for the ridiculous thought.
Get out of my head, it’s Sunday morning. This is my time.
I looked at myself one more moment, noticing the redness on my cheeks. Had he done that? Could the mere thought of him bring heat to my skin?
You are beautiful, stop picking yourself apart.
I shook my head and forced the connection with him closed. I would not think of him this morning. I won’t let him influence my new routine.
I can’t lie though, and say it didn’t cross my mind, to think that maybe I was fighting a losing battle. That maybe the new norm would be some form of Dmitri on Sunday mornings.
Putting myself together, I made my way downstairs. I could hear voices in the kitchen before I could see the faces that sat at our table.
I halted at the entrance of the busy kitchen to find four women sitting with my aunt. Women who I felt I should know but couldn’t quite recall.
“Well hello there, Celia. How are you this fine Sunday morning?” One of them addressed me.
When I didn’t immediately respond to her friendly gesture, Olivia started to get up from the table.
“Celia, this is Jezabel, Anabel’s mother.”
“Good morning. I’m sorry, I thought you looked familiar. She has your same facial features, how funny.”
“Celia, you should probably take a seat. This meeting pertains to you, actually.” Another lady at the table suggested.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” I asked, taking the seat at the end of the table as she had suggested, neither bothered nor welcoming the detour of my new Sunday routine.
“My name is Valerie. I’m Lisa’s mother.”
“Wait, does this have to do with last night?” I quickly asked, the heightened sense of warning jumping straight into my tone.
All the faces in the room turned to face me at that point.
“I’m not sure I can discuss this at the moment, Olivia.”
Olivia’s eyebrow rose, “These ladies are a part of your coven, Celia. You can tell them anything if you are worried about disclosing something pertaining to that.”
“Wait, What?” I asked, shocked that the mothers of my new friends were actual witches of a century’s old coven that I am a part of.
“Yes, Valerie, Jezabel, Gloria, and Maura are four of the other witches in your coven, and there is news you must hear. They have come to summons you.”
“Celia, last night Lisa came home with a wild story from your visit to the farm. Kyle confirmed the news and I knew it was imperative that we call for a gathering.” Valerie started.
“Kyle said that the two of you did a spell to make the demon disappear.”
“It’s in my book.” I stated plainly, not knowing if what I had done was against the rules or not being that Lisa isn’t in our coven.
“Sweetheart, we are not saying what you did is wrong, we are just surprised that you were able to complete such a spell, essentially on your own.” Maura, the older fair haired witch said.
“But I didn’t do it on my own, Lisa was with me. She knew the spell just as I did. We sent orbs out into the field and then cast the spell on the thing that was out there.”
I looked to Olivia, who sat in silence, watching the conversation unfold.
“Did it charge at you, was there anything else that stuck out to you in the time it took to make it disappear?” Gloria asked.
“No, nothing, I almost don’t think it was there to hurt us or anything. I mean, we were out on that field for a while before Dmitri and Kyle got up.”
The women looked to each other and then back to me. “How much of that book have you read, Celia?” Valerie asked.
And there it was…the question every student is asked when they haven’t done their homework.
“Not much.” I blurted out. “Think about it, I was Just told I was a witch not but a few days ago. I’m given a book that contradicts the way I was raised. It tells me that everything I was told growing up as a child was a lie. I get teleported to this strange woman, who by the way isn’t really alive, who tells me I’m this all powerful witch with a great destiny.”
Getting up from the table I threw my hands up in the air, “For Christ sakes, it’s Sunday. Can I at least eat some breakfast before talking about demons and spells, before asking me if I know anything about anything?”
“So, I guess the answer to your question is, No.” Olivia answered for me, looking at Valerie with a frustrated eye.
I turned away from them in a huff and stalked off to the fridge, yanking the door open before hearing that the conversation was moving on without me.
“I will work on getting the protectors to bring in everyone else, but we may have a problem with one.” I heard Gloria say, her tone reserved.
“Yes, I’ve heard it too. Augusta hasn’t been heard or seen of for several months. Aerok took her daughter, Perri, to stay with a guardian in the mean time.”
“What does Aerok have to say, can’t he detect her whereabouts?” Valerie asked the concern clear in her voice.
The more they spoke to one another, the more I realized how I knew them and from where I’d known them. With a glass of milk in hand, I inched ever so carefully back to the table. These were my mother’s friends, from when I was a little girl. I had met on our world travels together. Their voices echoed memories to dance in my head.
“I heard that Desmond wasn’t too far away with Beatrice. Apparently, she is teaching at Harvard this term, here on visa.” Maura added with a smile on her face, gesturing me to sit next to her.
I took her request, but made sure to stay quiet. I could sense the overdrive my brain was functioning in.
Trust them, Celia. These are your sisters in craft. They will hold your life in their hands if they have to.
Closing my eyes for a brief moment, It’s Sunday, Dmitri, it’s Sunday and I wanted peace today.
I could almost close my eyes and see him sitting and talking to me. Yes, it’s Sunday. And as soon as I’m done, I will be over.
“Celia,” Olivia brought me out from the private distraction. “I need you to go through the book in the next couple days. It’s imperative that you know more about what you are up against. Look at your mother, she had decades of knowledge and in a flash they took her out.”
The car accident, the moment the connection was made I could feel my body rising from the seat. “What do you mean they took her out?” I asked bluntly, interrupting the other conversation at the table.
“They, those demons, are responsible for your mother’s death, Celia. But it doesn’t end there. This goes back to the creation of our coven.” Gloria said, “Our coven was created to vanquish them, to send them back to their realm of shadows where they belong, for good. Over the centuries, warlocks of other malevolent covens have sought to bring them out of their realm so to destroy the one immortal coven. Power hunger is a sickness, and they will stop at nothing to destroy the good in the magical world.”
“Your mother said she had figured out how to defeat them once and for all, but they killed her before she was able to disclose the knowledge to anyone in the coven.” Valerie added.
“We had hoped that she had written it in her book or told you.” Gloria said.
“I didn’t even know my mother was a witch, ladies. This all sounds
like something out of one of my mother’s fairytales.”
Olivia reached out to the center of the table and picked up the coffee pot. “Something must be done to keep everyone safe.” She said, as she took the pot to the counter.
“I’m telling you, the protectors are working double time, not only protecting us but also our families.” Valerie stated, referring to Kyle taking care of Lisa while pretty much keeping Valerie in hiding.
I looked to Jezebel who had been sitting pretty quiet throughout the whole conversation.
“Does Anabel know that you’re in town?” I asked her.
“No, I have not called or been by the house yet today.” She replied, looking at me as though she would add something but then pierced her lips tight.
“You know she really misses you, that she feels lost and alone because you are never around for her.” I said, not thinking of the consequences my words would have.
“Misses me?” she blurted out in a soft questioning tone.
“Yes, misses you. You may not see it because she is self sufficient but when she heard that my mother had died she was reserved about it. The idea of losing her own mother, when she barely spends time or sees her, was a struggle for her.” I took a deep breath because the same words applied to Valerie as well.
My head shifted to the woman at the other head of the table. “And you, I know you are all on this kick of making sure we protect our family and loved ones from the horrendous monsters that could potentially suck the lives right out of us, but you’re daughter is very much alive and needs your love and attention as well.”
You are crossing a line, Celia! Dmitri warned. I’m almost there, just stop while you are ahead.
Valerie stood up, the chair scooting back several inches behind her. “You have no clue of what you are talking about. We, as mothers, have taken an oath, one that we didn’t all come by willfully, but have been faithful to said oath. We have placed every measurable effort to protect our legacy as well as the longevity of this coven. Love…..I Love my daughter with every fiber of my being, and because of that love I must make the choice every day to either put her in the line of fire or keep her at arm’s length.” She shuffled her purse off from the chair rail and put it on her shoulder. “Your mother chose the opposite and look at what happened. Now you are an orphan who knows nothing about anything, seems to me a little thought into your argument is in order.” She turned around and stormed out of Olivia’s house.
The front door creaked open and slammed shut. The rest of us sitting at the table were waiting for the windows to rattle some more.
I got her, but you need to apologize. Dmitri added.
The words were stuck in my throat. I wanted to apologize to the rest of the women sitting at the table but I was holding back emotions that had been sitting just under the surface of my resolve for over a month. I’d held on to them so tight that when I least expected, they were grazed by a catapult of ammunition. Valerie’s words did more than hurt; they forced me into defense mode, a manner in which I didn’t have much practice.
“I guess that is the end of that meeting.” Maura turned to Olivia, half heartedly smiling at my aunt.
“No, please don’t go. She will cool off and be back in no time. I’m sure of it.” Olivia attempted to soothe.
“How can you be so sure?” Gloria asked, looking from Olivia back to me.
Dmitri is outside making his attempt to calm her. I could sense his presence, his nature too, calming me back into a state of compromise. Was that his purpose, to make it so that I could see clearly enough when doing magic?
“Valerie knows what we have to do. She understands that none of this is Celia’s fault.”
“Celia, honey, come sit by me.” Jezabel suggested.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Jensen. In the short time I’ve been here, Anabel has been absolutely wonderful to me. I understand now why I feel connected to her.”
In mid sentence, Valerie and Dmitri walked quietly into the kitchen.
“Lisa, more so,” I directed at Valerie. “I feel a very real appreciation towards them. It makes sense that it would be because they are sister in a way that I never had before.”
Valerie stood facing me, her expression stone-like. The blue of her eyes heated with frustration that she couldn’t deplete.
“I’m sorry for attacking you; I seem to have grown a stronger connection to your daughter than my actual coven sister.” I tried to apologize to Valerie.
Words never escaped her lips. She nodded and found her way back to the kitchen table, the tension in the room still too high for comfort, however.
At that point, my eyes met Dmitri’s and he threw me a soft wayward smile. His simple gesture calmed the inner storm in my system that had been brewing for the past 10 minutes.
See, I knew you could play nice.
And with that, I couldn’t help but return his smile.
Jezabel broke the silence, “First and foremost, we must convene a counsel of the whole coven. We’ve already decided upon that being the first step. While preparations are being made, we must individually study our history and see what solutions can be had. If none can be found, we must summon the one.”
“She frowns upon such action.” Gloria added, her tone echoing in the kitchen as it bore as an obvious warning.
“If it turns out to be the only way, then we must do what must be done.” Valerie quickly retorted.
“May I suggest meditation and study until we meet again then, ladies?” Dmitri spoke to the group, his voice proper and very ancient sounding.
Everyone departed, hugging one another, even including me in the goodbyes.
“I want you to know I heard what you said, and I’ll take it into consideration. I had never thought Anabel would feel my absence the way you see it through your eyes.” Jezabel whispered into my ear as she hugged me goodbye.
When she pulled away, she smiled at me and looked at me in wonder. “You are so much like your mother. I’m sorry you have lost her so young.”
The tears tried to build up but I managed to swallow them right back before they could gloss my eyes. “Thank you,” was all I could manage.
She must have realized what she said struck a chord, and pulled me in for a hug.
Olivia didn’t say a word after she closed the door behind them. She took one look at Dmitri and me standing next to each other at the entrance and walked past us in to the kitchen.
“What was that all about?” Dmitri asked me, hearing his voice a nice change.
“You really need to stop interrupting my thoughts dude.”
“Why would I stop? I like being on your mind.”
My hand reached out and smacked his shoulder, “Silly, silly boy!”
His arm reached out and he caught my hand, “I’m serious though, Celia.” He sighed.
Was it something I even wanted to know more about? Should I even ask, why? I mean, me, of all the people in the world.
“Where did you put the book? I should probably take a look at it. I knew your mother for a long time. I’m sure she would have written something down, if Olivia says she had come up with a way to vanquish the Domskabi.”
“It’s upstairs.” I turned and found myself leading him upstairs to my room.
I opened the white wooden door into my room and walked half way in before turning to see what he looked like standing in a place no other male had been.
“Nice curtains.” He mumbled with a grin spread across his face.
Dark blue curtains….he would say something about the plainest object in my room.
“Thanks. Blue is my favorite color. Olivia tried to make me as comfortable as possible, I suppose.”
Turning around, I went straight for the book. It was under my dresser, which didn’t happen to touch the floor all the way on the bottom. When I realized that the opening was just about the same thickness as my book, I felt it was the best place to put something that wasn’t meant to be out, but also not hidden, like Aunt Olivia had
with her hiding spell.
“You should keep it better hidden than that, Celia.” Dmitri warned, sitting on the corner of my bed, just as I turned around.
Seeing him there, slightly unnerved my calm demeanor.
“I didn’t want to hide it completely since I was still using it.”
“Yes, I understand that, but you must realize that you are not the only one who can use magic to find an object.” He reached out for the book, waiting for me to hand it over. “This book contains spells and knowledge direct from your lineage, and considering your lineage, I would take special care not to let it fall into any other hands.”
Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1) Page 10