Chapter 29 – Séance
Barrington County, Present Day: One Week Before Litha
The séance took place a week before the summer solstice. The last two weeks the group of girls had been staying at the apartment Nathalie would be renting, or so she thought. Sadie had filled Nathalie in on Clara’s plans to let Elanah live here…with Dean.
Nathalie had cried for a couple of days. Her feelings of anger and helplessness made her dissolve into tears at a moment’s notice. She would stand at the large living room window looking over Town Circle and wonder how everything had changed so drastically. It was only when she saw Dean and Elanah walking hand-in-hand through the park one afternoon that her out-of-control emotions fused into determination to fight back. She didn’t shed another tear.
The only other person who knew of their presence in town was Rain. They needed her help to get supplies and care for Ella and the other girls. Nathalie finally told Rain about Tess and Gabriel, but Rain’s reaction to Gabriel’s unfaithfulness was strangely muted. After the shock wore off, anger blazed in Rain’s eyes at his cowardly deceit at not telling her himself, but she didn’t cry.
Vail explained that the two were probably hexed and that Elanah had a hand in their attraction.
“Why Gabriel?” Rain had asked in frustration. No one had the answer, but Nathalie suspected Elanah just didn’t like the Parker girls.
Vail asked Rain not to do anything drastic that could jeopardize their plans. She agreed, but Nathalie knew Rain had gone over to the hotel one night to see for herself.
“They’re definitely banging,” Rain reported with barely contained fury. She’d watched them from outside the French doors of Gabriel’s room. He still refused to close the drapes, the idiot. She waited a good hour until they showed up and had sex. She wanted to stop them the moment Gabriel laid Tess on the bed, but she didn’t. A cold part of her brain had asked…what difference did it make? Her boyfriend had been screwing her sister’s best friend for weeks. Why stop them now? She needed to see, and she had.
Now she understood why he’d been so accommodating when she wanted to sleep at home and be with her family; why he’d been so understanding as she’d pursued her research. No anger in the last few weeks…no fighting. After three years together they were done, hex or no hex. She just needed closure now, face to face; but she’d have to wait, and patience wasn’t her strong suit.
The group that gathered to perform the séance was a grim one. Sadie had tweaked the séance spell to ensure that Hester, and only Hester, would respond to the calling. They didn’t want a visit from any other entity, like they had last time.
They also had Willow’s grimoire, which Sadie was studying. Max found the book locked away in a chest in his parent’s room and replaced it with another book Sadie spelled to look identical. As long as no one opened it, there was no way to tell from the outside it wasn’t the original.
Vail described every diagram she’d seen in her mother’s rooms, so Sadie had a jumping point to figure out how to counter Elanah’s spells.
They cleared all the furniture from the room, and Sadie burned a pentagram into the wood of the floor. In the centre was a circle of salt large enough to accommodate a small woman. They were all sitting on cushions with white candles lit in front of them.
Vail sat East, Sadie south, Nathalie north, and Rain west. They all joined hands and relaxed as Sadie began chanting. Sadie had put the four sick girls to sleep in the bedroom so they wouldn’t react to the magic happening in the living room. All four looked terrible and were degenerating quickly now. White skin, black lips, eyes that didn’t stop glowing...they were dying. The potion was keeping them alive, but that was all. Being in town was very hard on them, and Vail worried constantly she’d lose one.
The brazier in front of Sadie glowed as the crimson coals burned hot. Max found the brazier in the Barrington’s attic where Luke had hidden it three years ago. It had belonged to Jacob Barrington and was considered an item of magic. It was stored away carefully so it wouldn’t be misused.
When the chanting started, the atmosphere in the room changed. The girls relaxed, their conscious minds going to sleep and their unconscious minds waking up. Only Sadie remained awake. She looked around and all the girls’ eyes were closed. They were sleeping, but alert. Satisfied, she unclasped her hands and all the girls automatically did the same, folding their hands in their laps. Sadie dropped a bag full of herbs into the brazier then took a small dagger and cut her hand, watching with detached interest as her blood dripped into the fire. Then she took a piece of paper with the name HESTER LEROUX printed on it, covered it in her blood, and tossed it in. The paper went up in smoke and she started the call. “I summon thee, Hester LeRoux. Come!” She repeated the call three times.
The smell of spring filled the room. The girls’ eyes popped open, staring vacantly. Something was zooming around the room, circling at an incredible speed. Sadie could feel her hair lifting and was briefly alarmed. Willow had done this before she’d possessed her and made her do horrible things.
But the entity eventually settled within the salt circle and coalesced into a middle-aged woman. She was a luminescent white spectre, wearing a long, fancy dress. Her form rippled as if she stood facing the wind. Her face was beautiful, with small delicate features and dark hair that hung to her shoulders. She stared at Sadie with narrowed eyes, waiting patiently to discover why she had been called.
“Hester LeRoux,” Sadie bowed her head in acknowledgement and welcome. She had learned that Hester’s mother, Taxaine LeRoux, had been the most powerful voodoo witch of her time. Hester had followed in her footsteps, focusing on communicating with the dead. She’d also been a time twister, and after reading Hester’s séance book, Sadie realized that twisting time was an incredible gift for a witch. Now she understood how Elanah had gotten to Barrington.
“Kellar Heir,” Hester inclined her head in return. “You have questions.”
Sadie’s voice was low as she spoke. “We do have questions and we hope you can answer them. Who called you to use your power to twist Elanah to this time? Is she truly needed or can we get rid of her and do this ourselves?”
Hester laughed. “I see Elanah is still popular wherever she is,” she said drily, “but to answer your questions, Elanah was needed to bring the problem to your attention, and also to cure it. It is unfortunate, but only the original witch can do that. Black magic always has a price. Elanah knew this. Now this poison is inextricably keyed to her magic. She is the only one who understands how it works, and that knowledge is critical to creating the spell cure.”
“She claims there is no black or white magic, only the witch’s intentions,” Nathalie said woodenly.
Hester’s mouth tightened. “Of course she did.”
“Elanah plans to steal every witch’s magic. Sterilize them after she cures them. She will be supremely powerful as the only witch with magic in town. Already she has all the town’s leaders in her thrall.”
“She will be the only witch in town. You cannot separate a witch from her power once it manifests. All the witches will die.” Hester tapped her chin as she contemplated the information. “This is an unforeseen twist. Trust Elanah to try and recreate her past.” Bitterness rang in the ghostly woman’s voice. “It is imperative that you rid yourselves of Elanah permanently. Unfortunately, she is immortal and therefore invulnerable.”
“What can we do?”
“You must make her mortal. To do that, you will need a special dagger named Rive. It was made by a powerful Fae King to remove immortality from his subjects as a form of punishment. It was also known as The Witch’s Dagger, as witches used it to drive away demons. Not all witches were interested in demon lovers.” Hester’s lips twisted. “The last sighting of Rive was during the banishment of the demon. I believe it was hidden in Superstition, but I know not where.”
Rain spoke, her voice dreamy. “It’s in the library. Superstition has a small artifact museum. I saw the kn
ife. It glows and never tarnishes. Its handle is shaped like twisted vines. The point is slim and sharp. It is in a small glass display. I remember because the metal it is made from is listed as ‘unknown.’”
“I’ll send Luke to get it,” Sadie offered. He’d been their eyes and ears, relaying Elanah’s actions. They knew when the spell would take place, but Elanah had not yet chosen the location, so they still needed that information. Timing would be everything. Many lives depended on it.
“Tell him to proceed cautiously,” Rain advised. “The librarian in Superstition has eyes in the back of her head, and she doesn’t trust Barringtons, and I mean the family, not the townspeople.”
Hester nodded. “Her name is Hagar Oaks. She is the witch who called me initially. She could sense a problem in Barrington and figured out Elanah was needed. She is a very smart and powerful witch, as well as a good librarian, but she could not fix this alone, even with the help of the Kellar Heir.”
“Sadie, my name is Sadie.”
“Of course,” Hester smiled.
Nathalie asked the next question. “Can you explain why Elanah is doing this? We all thought she was good.”
Hester frowned. “I can only tell you what I believe are Elanah’s motives. She struggled during her natural lifetime to fulfill her dreams…a simple life with the man she loved surrounded by their children. She never achieved it. She is merely picking up the pieces and trying again. It is what drives her, and she can be single minded in her goals. Perhaps she realized she wasn’t ruthless enough to get Sean, so she is taking no chances now.”
“Didn’t their affair bother you?” Nathalie asked, sadness leaking through as she thought of Dean with Elanah. “Sean was your husband.”
“Ours was a marriage of convenience and alliance, not love. Sean had his lover, and I had mine. As long as we didn’t publicize it, Sean and I lived quite amicably.”
“Elanah and Sean had a child, according to my mother-in-law, Claire. Didn’t you raise her boy?”
Hester smiled in remembrance. “Yes, she had her son nine months after the demon’s banishment, but she was forced to go into hiding months before the baby was born. Limerick had turned against her, accusing her of being a witch. To escape persecution, she killed her husband and disappeared. Only Sean knew where she was. He helped her during her confinement, but for once he couldn’t change the town’s collective mind. If she had been caught, she would have swung. After she gave birth she left. Sean searched for her until the day he died, but to no avail. We assumed she’d died. Their son was merely hours old when she left. He was a good boy,” she said fondly. “Magic had taken a toll on my body. I was barren and could not have children of my own. Their son was a gift.”
“I had a half brother,” Vail said with remote anger. Sadie could feel her struggle to break the magic that kept her consciousness asleep. “My mother never told me.”
“His name was Philippe.”
“It is written that you turned the town against her. Is that true, Hester?” It was Vail asking. She wanted to know who had betrayed her mother, the poor young abused girl, but at the same time recognized that if Elanah hadn’t fled with Valentine, she wouldn’t be here.
“No, it was not me, child. It started with the chatter of a young boy named Amos who was immune to magic. Because of him the townspeople became suspicious and accused her of bewitching them, their mayor, and hanging innocent women. With Sean in the north building the new town, there was no one in Limerick to influence them otherwise. Once he got back, the mob was in a frenzy to burn her, and there was nothing Sean could do. His magical influence, when critically needed, came to naught.”
“She used the same spell at the Barrington Hotel’s grand opening ball that she’d used for Sean, only for herself this time.”
Hester nodded. “Yes.”
“Thank you, Hester.” Sadie was tired and her magic was waning.
Hester spoke quietly, only to Sadie. “Have Hagar call me on the summer solstice. I can help you in your battle. Elanah has to eradicate the poison from the infected witches first so she doesn’t pull tainted power to herself. You must allow Elanah to do this, but be warned, she will be quick to move to the next stage of the spell. That is when you must act fast and stop her. If she bleeds the witches of their power, Elanah will kill them all. You must ensure this does not happen. You may have to make a difficult decision. Choose wisely.”
Then she was gone.
Sadie dissolved the circle and the girls groaned and fell to their sides, exhausted. Séances were taxing, but Sadie was ready with a tray of hot chocolate and snacks. Her husband was a walking stomach, so food was something she always had on hand. Sure enough, once the sugar hit their systems, the girls felt better, becoming more alert.
Vail stood up, stretching her lithe body like a dancer. She looked at Sadie, who stared back as she sipped her hot chocolate. “I heard what Hester said.”
“How is that possible?” Nathalie complained. “I can barely remember what just happened here.”
Vail didn’t take her eyes off Sadie. “I’m not going to allow anyone to kill my mother, Sadie. I know what Hester suggested, but there has to be another way.”
Sadie inclined her head. “It’s one of many options, Vail. Hester just suggested the easiest one for our purposes. We’ll think of something.”
Vail nodded, and went to check on the girls.
“My only question is…who on earth is Hagar Oaks?”
Rain snorted. “Hagar is the librarian in Superstition with the eyes at the back of her head; and, it would appear, she is also a witch. I, for one, am not really surprised to discover this.”
Sadie nodded and picked up her cell phone to call her husband.
Chapter 30 – It All Falls Down
Limerick: March 1597
When Elanah returned to Limerick, she felt free. Her life of hell as a demon’s concubine was finally over. She had risked much to perform that spell and banish the demon, exposing herself as a witch and demon whore, having her husband find out, and the most dangerous, exposing Sean as her lover and co-conspirator. But everything had gone as planned and now it was over. With Danner gone, the bad luck he had caused in town would cease, and the townspeople would be convinced the responsible witch had been captured and put to death.
After she’d fainted from the toll of the casting and the banishment, Sean had taken her back to Limerick and hidden her at their secret meeting place. They spent two days there together so she could recover. He tried to question her more closely about her relationship with the demon. Danner’s comments had caused him some concern, but she feigned hysterics every time he brought the subject up, so he finally relented and let her be. That was a horror she would never share with him.
They made love frequently and lingeringly. They had their whole lives in front of them. Sean was going to marry her, and she would finally have the life she craved.
When she arrived home, Hiram was waiting for her. He knew she hadn’t been at her friend’s. He’d checked. He was seething with rage. A glance into their bedroom showed it had been torn apart.
Thank God she had taken the Von Vixen spell book with her, and Danner had delivered Willow’s grimoire to the Kellars.
“Why did you check up on me?” she asked. She was still in shock at Hiram’s behavior. He had never checked on her before.
“I wanted to find you because some boy in town was saying how the mayor’s lady wife, Elanah, was up at the dig site with them. She was so pretty, and nice.”
Oh Amos, Elanah thought with a pang. He really was immune to her magic. He hadn’t forgotten her despite her spell. At least he hadn’t called her a witch. Oh dear, this was going to be a problem.
“So I checked. Hester Kirkman is not away, but in Limerick. Then the townsfolk were here a few days ago looking for you. I told them you were away and that you’d be back in a few days. They also heard the boy talking, and now there is muttering that you’re a witch. The witch responsible for
the town’s troubles, and that you’ve been accusing innocent women in your place while you go free. I wanted to warn you.”
“Why would people think this?” Elanah cried, inching around the table to put some space between her and Hiram. He had a thunderous look on his face and he spit as he shouted at her.
“Because, when you left town, all the bad luck stopped!”
Comprehension dawned in Elanah’s eyes. Danner had left on his “trip” just before her.
Hester. She was sure Hester was behind the rumour, probably because she was angry Elanah was with Sean.
“Did you tell anyone I was gone?”
“I told the mob who came looking for you that you were away at a friend’s. What difference does it make now? You weren’t there. Where have you been Elanah? And with whom?” he bellowed, trying to get to her. “Has my wife been playing the harlot for another man? Have you shamed me and our families?”
He shoved the table toward her, pinning her against the wall and lunged at her. “Hiram, wait!” she screamed, trying to avoid his fist. He hit the wall as she shied away from him in terror.
Where was her gentle husband? This man was a nightmare. He hadn’t even given her a chance to explain.
Or lie, in her case.
He managed to slap her across the face with his open palm. “Cuckold, am I?!” She could hear her neck make a popping sound as her face swung toward the wall. He raised his hand again, but he didn’t strike. Instead he looked at Elanah with horror.
Elanah was tired of being pushed around, told what to do, raped, beaten, and cowed. Power ignited and crackled along her body. Her eyes glowed green in the dim light as she hissed at her husband.
“NEVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!” she screamed, furious.
“Devil! Witch!” he cried in terror, pointing a finger at her. “They were right! The town will rise up and burn you!”
Elanah laughed, crazed with fright and fury. She rubbed her hands along her belly and over her breasts. “They won’t hang a woman who’s pregnant, you sterile fool,” she taunted him. “It took a real man to put his seed in my belly and create a child!” she screamed, hurting him as much as she could. “I’ll tell you who that man was, too. Sean Kirkman, my lover and my true love! He enjoyed me more often than you can know, and in your bed too. I welcomed him between my legs because I needed a man there, not a snivelling coward!”
Malice: A Barrington County Novel Page 24