It’s in your hands as we speak.
My eyes met his as the defiance in my thought caught him.
“Yes, but you see, sweet Celia, my hands were specifically chosen to protect you.” He said, his face surprised by my use of thought on purpose to bait him.
He did raise a question, however.
“What do you mean, specifically chosen?” I asked as I sat next to him at the foot of my bed.
Our bodies turned towards each other. “At the start of it all, I was just a boy whose mother dabbled in the craft.” He started, the sigh escaping his mouth as if recalling his mother. “She became friends with your ancestor, Ciara, and even studied the craft with her. Their bond grew as they learned from the ancient world and all that it provided.”
He opened my book to the very beginning and ran his hand across the symbol inscribed on the inside of the leather cover. “They created this symbol when I was just a boy. It signified, to them, eternity.”
His hand reached out towards my chest and his fingers touched the pendant on my necklace. “That symbol, means a long life, filled with strength, and a home your magical heart will always have.”
I detected the sadness behind his voice, and a haunting sensation came over me, “Ciara is the sacrificed one, your mother’s friend.”
“She was, she is.”
“So what happened?”
“A stranger came to our village one afternoon, in the broad daylight and killed 3 girls in cold blood. It was punishment for not having joined their coven. He promised more bloodshed if they continued to deny him their power.”
Dmitri took a deep breath, recalling the events.
“Ciara, riddled with guilt because one of the girls had been her niece, swore vengeance against the man. She formed a circle of women with supernatural gifts. It wasn’t just to create a coven of witches. No, Ciara had thought long and hard on how she would protect those she had grown to love.”
Dmitri turned the first page of my book, to an image of a circle that never ends. The image looked as though it had been enchanted because the image continued on in a strange fashion.
“Each witch took a protector, a supernatural soul mate. While the magic of the witch was intact and immortal, so would be the protector. Each new witch would have a succession, as nature would provide, but timeless would we stay.
My eyes met Dmitri’s and I realized why I had been haunted by my thoughts of the growing attraction towards him.
“So I will grow old and die and you will live forever.” It didn’t come out as a question, but the question was there.
“You are my 23rd witch in your lineage, Celia.”
My head fell low and it dawned on me he’d accepted this life. “Why did you do it?” I asked him, plainly.
“I didn’t want to lose my mother, and I promised her I would protect Ciara’s legacy.”
“I don’t understand. Your mother was one of the witches, I mean, you would lose her eventually? Does that mean you are related to one of the witch lines?”
“I am a part of Valerie’s family tree, one of her ancestors, yes.”
“So why aren’t you her protector?”
“Ciara isn’t one of the witches in the coven of nine. Ciara is the sacrificed soul that sealed the magic for eternity. Her daughter…. was my betrothed. Allura became my charge when the circle was created.”
“Wait…”
“No, I am not one of your ancestors.” He laughed. “I was forced to give up my love for Allura when the circle was bonded, and she never forgave me for choosing my mother over her.”
“I don’t understand, why would you give her up, on your love for her?”
“It would skew my perception of things, Celia. I wouldn’t be able to think with a clear mind if my heart were involved in keeping her safe.”
“That doesn’t seem fair, to live a lifetime without love because you can’t multi-task.” I whispered apprehensively to myself, my eyes shooting to the floor.
Dmitri raised his hands to my shoulder, picking up a piece of dark brown hair between his two fingers. “It has been a battle every day since your mother showed me your photograph.” His voice was low, thick with desire.
My eyes shot up straight to his, “Which photograph?” Should I wonder if he had a perve side to him, getting warm and fuzzy feeling of a child’s picture?
“You are sick sometimes!” he mentally yelled at me, teasing me for such a thought.
My eyes widened at the response.
“It was last year’s summer trip to the waterfall in Tennessee. It’s the one of you standing by yourself in front of the falls. The one you can tell you’re smiling about something, not someone.”
“I hate that picture.”
Dmitri took the book off his lap and got up off the bed. He walked over to the curtains and pulled them back gently to look outside.
“That picture stirred something in me that I haven’t felt since I was in love with Allura, Celia.” He admitted, his tone grave.
Slowly, I realized that my head was tilting to the side as he said his statement. “How could I do that, I’m just as plain as all the rest of them.”
“And that’s the funniest part of it all.” He shifted his position, facing me, the shadow on his upper body dark towards the room. “You don’t even know how special you are, how extraordinarily beautiful you are. Not just the physical but the whole package.”
“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Is it though?” he asked. “Think about that for a moment.”
“I don’t want to think about it. I want to look through this book and focus on something other than this awkward feeling between you and me.”
“If we don’t face it, Celia, we are going to have trust issues.”
“I don’t have trust issues, Dmitri. You are my protector. I know that no matter what, you will be at my side when I seriously need you.”
He nodded, and walked back over to me. “Turn towards the middle of the book, she usually hid things in between other spells.”
He had changed the subject, just as I had wanted, but I could feel that the topic was still there, lingering around to be brought back later when I’d least expect it. And, he would find a way to surprise me. It was a tactic he’d implemented several times as of late.
After about 10 minutes of flipping through pages and skimming content, Dmitri stopped me from turning a page.
“Wait, look here, she has an asterisk on this page next to the coven symbol, but I swear I saw it on a few pages back as well, in the same color ink.”
Checking to see if he was right, I flipped back a few pages and found the same color asterisk on the symbol. Flipping forward several pages, I looked specifically for the colored asterisk.
In total, I found 9 asterisks in spells that had been initiated by different coven members throughout the centuries.
“It looks like she was trying to make a connection to the spells that each of the members had done, coven crafting that was tried over the centuries.”
“I remember these.” He insisted. “Each of the spells required a drop of blood from each of the members, and they all call on the immortal spirit. They used them to rid the group of an unwanted entity.”
“Couldn’t we use something like this for the Domskabi?”
Dmitri’s eyes became pensive, as if thinking back to each and every spell which had been cast throughout his lifespan.
Eventually, he shook his head, “I’m not sure, I don’t want to sound pessimistic but the entities these were used on were not demonic, they all resided in this realm. The Domskabi are from a whole other realm.”
The palm of my hand found the spine of my mother’s magic book and I snapped it shut. “This is crap.”
Getting up off the bed, I tossed the book on the bed and walked myself over to where Dmitri had been standing earlier.
“I understand your frustration, but I believe in you. I know you will figure this out.”
>
“Dmitri, did my mother ever really tell you why she didn’t want me to know about this magical world?”
I glanced back, to see him pick up the book with one hand.
“Your mother wanted what I want.” He waved his hand once over the hard cover of the book and it vanished into thin air.
“What is it that you want?” I asked, in wonder that he had just placed a protection spell on my book without even uttering a sound.
“I want you to live.” His eyes met mine and I found myself going back to the previous topic.
So I can grow old and tired, while you watch on as you stand before me?
The corner of his mouth twitched, as if hiding a smile that was fighting to come out.
No, so you know what it’s like to love someone and appreciate that nothing last forever.
CHAPTER Seven
Old and Gray. Those two words weighed heavy the following weeks as I played back my conversation with Dmitri. I wondered, every time I looked at him, how he could live like a normal person, when the truth was unbelievably opposite.
From everything he had admitted about his relationship with Allura, I felt I should protect my heart around him.
Anabel’s demeanor had changed since her mother was back in the picture. Also, I almost want to believe that Lisa has more of a pep in her step since our confrontation with the Domskabi demon at the farm.
I’d done what my coven sisters had suggested; I’d made it a point to study my family’s book. Not that it got me very far in figuring out a way to permanently vanquish the demons back into the realm from which they came.
With Olivia’s help, I was able to discover something my mother had been doing. Something I wasn’t ready to tell anyone about. Every mention of a demon in the book, mother had placed an asterisk next to the coven spell. She had made it a point to decipher which spells could be done independently and ones that most definitely needed multiple coven members to show effectiveness.
“Do you think she was planning on telling anyone about what she had found?” I asked Olivia.
A sigh escaped her lips, “I’m not sure, Celia. Those last few weeks, your mother had been acting off, she spent little time talking about anything craft related.”
My lips pressed together as I thought back to how things were right before the accident. I couldn’t recall any conflict in our personal relationship, but then again, mom had always been reserved. She spent most of her time hiding a huge chunk of truth and I never figured it out. How was I to know if something was off, then or now?
“All I know is that Mom wasn’t any different just before she died, and that she was my whole life.”
Olivia raised her eyebrows up and shrugged her shoulders, “It is a mystery we may never uncover, Celia.”
I looked over the spell Lisa and I had done and realized it too was a coven spell. The effect of our magic wouldn’t last, eventually it would come back, and probably pissed off.
“Have you ever known a demon to come back from where it was sent and seek revenge for its return?” I asked Olivia, feeling a deep sense of dread fill the pit of my stomach.
“The Domskabi are led by a malevolent being, someone who uses the craft in a dark manner. If someone sends the demon to do harm, then they will follow their orders.”
“I don’t think it was there to hurt us. It never did anything but let us see it. It didn’t even fight back.”
“That is more reason to be wary of your surroundings and stay near Dmitri. He is, after all, the one who is supposed to protect you, not the other way around.” She scolded.
“I wasn’t protecting him, I acted on impulse when I casted that spell.”
“Well thank goodness your instincts are strong.” She sassed apprehensively.
School has become a continued distraction. The days flew by quickly and the girls were always chatting about our next get together. I’d made it clear that I was going to be sitting them out. Observation at its finest.
“I still can’t believe you two casted a successful light spell.” Carla mused.
“I’m sure you and I could cast something like that one day.” I’d said it to keep her spirits about herself, but in truth, I know it’s probably not a possibility for Carla to cast a successful spell.
“You are just saying that.” She smiled, her book almost covering her face, probably to hide the red on her cheeks.
“You really need to believe in yourself more, not just about our little hobby but with all things. You are beautiful and smart. That’s all it takes.” I attempted to encourage her.
She nodded and kept on ignoring me by acting as if she was reading from her novel.
Dmitri had made it a point to sit by me every chance he got, even in P.E.
He and Kyle had been up to something the past couple days. Side by side they’d walk. Their rushed hush whispers sounded like arguments but I was never privy to the conversations.
I watched mostly, found my fit into the puzzle this new life felt like. The randomness still awed.
Lunch was the one place I took notice of the gravitation Lisa, Anabel, and I had with everyone who rotated around our lives.
I’d taken a keen notice at the tangled webs of desires that floated in a dangerous way amongst my new friends. The only real couple was Lisa and Justin, which left everyone in the ‘Friends’ category….Problem with that was the fact that no one liked someone who liked them. It is a Disaster waiting to happen.
This afternoon, I found myself on the floor of the living room being forced to play the child.
Olivia has a cat named, Charms. She swears that Charms understands everything you tell him, and only follows directions when they are given in spell form.
Essentially, she was asking me to cast a spell on her cat to do tricks for her. I played along, why not.
“Make’em go turn on the TV,” she asked, her silly tone as clear as day.
“Not sure he will actually reach the buttons, but we can certainly try.” I warned her.
Charms looked down, almost as if saying, ‘Not again’. Darn little cat had gone through days of nonsense and he still kept his adorable demeanor.
I place my hand on Charm’s tiny little gray head, ‘Turn on the television, Charms.” I could feel the surge of energy sizzle through my core, out the tips of my fingers and transfer to the cat.
We sat back and watched as Olivia’s cat crossed the living room, jumped on to the coffee table and press its fluffy little paw on the remote control, turning on the television. She jumped up from the floor and cheered, excited that I could influence another physical form to do as I wished.
“I wonder if it would work on a person.” She gasped, looking down at me, the thoughts racing through her head.
Don’t even think about it. Dmitri warned me.
Where are you? I’m not sure how much more of this I can take today. My complaining had become a usual as far as Dmitri was concerned.
I’m with Aerok. As soon as I’m done here I am picking you up.
Olivia sat back down, bringing me back to her excitement. “What else can we make’em do?”
My expression went blank on her. I was already done fooling around. “What should I worry about as far as Dmitri is concerned?” I asked Olivia, thinking back to when she first realized Dmitri had come into my life.
Now serious, she put down the cat toy that had been in her hand, absentmindedly, answering the question, “Celia, Dmitri is the one being that will protect you from everything. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“So why the frustration with Dmitri from the start, was it because you expected him to save mom?”
I hadn’t spoken about mom’s death to anyone since my visit with the legal assistant. It’s not like it isn’t fresh on my mind, but the official shock had worn off when other eye opening events began to occur.
“I don’t blame Dmitri, I never really did.” She said, her eyes riddled with sadness, her tone filled with grief. “His place in her
life was crucial, but in the end he had to make a choice.”
“Do you wish he would have chosen her?” the question came out raw, with a crack in my voice which raised an inner alarm to change the subject. No matter how torrential the flood was behind the wall I’d built over my heart, this one question kept surfacing.
Maybe she understood too well what it was like to lose a parent, but Olivia closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around my body. She held on to me, not saying a word, but I could feel what it was she wanted me to know.
Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1) Page 11