When Silas woke the next day, he wondered if he’d dreamt the entire scene. When her mind connected to his again he smiled.
A harsh knock sounded on the door, making Silas jump to attention. Ophelia had been up with coffee on for some time because she peered into his room looking refreshed and wide awake.
“You expecting someone?”
“Not to my knowledge.” His pulse quickened and he could feel the slightest bit of a tremor come from somewhere deep inside him. He picked up his pants, pulled them on and ignored the top button and belt as he rushed from his room to the main living area of the new house.
It couldn’t have been Sigmis because he wasn’t aware of the move yet. Silas knew if his father were responsible for the fire in the vision, that he would be aware of it in the future. Maybe after he and Gwen were bound.
The man who stood behind the door was not Sigmis as he feared. It was Alistair Crawford, Gwen’s father. He stood tall, almost seven feet by the measurement of his front door. His hands were stuffed in the front pocket of his blue-jean overalls. The red and blue flannel shirt buttoned up to his neck as far as it could have. He had a straw hat on his head covering the salt and pepper hair he let become overgrown by stress.
Silas quickly felt the lack of clothes he’d had on and lifted his hands to do the top button of his jeans.
“By all means, don’t let me interrupt.” Alistair didn’t look stunned at all.
Seraphine, who’d been laying on the couch gave the old man a dirty look and rolled over to read the book she held in her hand.
“Oh, don’t mind him, Mr. Crawford. Please come in. This sleepy head needs to start getting out of bed at a decent hour. Or come home at a decent one. May I offer you a cup of coffee?” Ophelia pushed past Silas and ushered the giant into the kitchen.
Silas took the time to rush back to his room and grab a shirt. He straightened himself and after putting his work boots on headed back to the kitchen. A faint whisper shocked him, as he saw the man sitting on one of the stools at the island counter. Gwen.
“So, Mr. Crawford, sir. What brings you by?” Silas asked as he poured a fresh cup for himself.
“I came to talk to you. Didn’t know I’d find you in the middle of a house party this early in the morning.”
“Really? You think that little of me? Is it because I’m young, or because of my name?”
“Your name has nothing to do with it. Your age, maybe a little, but no…I hear the stories just as well as the rest.”
Ophelia looked to the old man, shook her head and left the room. She wasn’t fond of the rumors that circulated amongst the families about Silas’ reputation.
“Look there, you’ve upset the poor girl.” Silas took a sip of his coffee and set it down on the counter. The two shifters wandered into the kitchen then, both fighting over the pot of coffee and neither paying attention to the older man at the island. “Let me introduce you, Mr. Crawford.” With his words, the two boys stopped and turned to stare at the man.
“This is Hex Lavar and Finis Necos. The poor girl you chased outta here is Ophelia Can, and there on the couch is Seraphine Knotley. Surely the names ring a bell.”
“Your coven, then?” Alistair asked even though he’d figured out the answer was yes.
“Yes, sir. The rumors you’ve heard are just that. I’m not the party-boy type. Nor do I ever intend to be.”
“Well, be it as it may, I still don’t like you sneaking around with my Gwen.”
“I’d hardly call it sneaking. Besides, she’s a big girl, she can handle herself.” The back of his mind he felt a surge of energy. “As a matter of fact, I’m thinking her powers are growing at a rate none of us had ever anticipated,” he said at the same moment he felt like he’d been seared with a red-hot branding stick.
“So, you’re just after her power, is that it?”
“Sir, if I were only after her power, I’d have taken it by now. Sucked her dry and left this horrible place. The mosquitoes here are man-eaters.”
“Well, if that’s not your plan, then what is it? What does Sigmis want from my little girl?”
“I’m not here because of my father.”
“I find that less than likely, and just as unbelievable.”
“Sir, what is it you’re after here?” Ophelia walked back into the room, ever the moderator.
“I wish to know what this vagabond wants with my family,” he shouted, slamming a closed fist against the counter.
Silas took a calming sip of his coffee while every fiber of his being shouted on the inside to keep his cool. Then as he placed his cup down on the same island, he drew up a cloth in his open hand and wiped the coffee off the surface near the man’s untouched cup.
“Ophelia hates a dirty kitchen.” He turned. Lifted the handle on the faucet and began rinsing the cloth.
“I’ll ask once more. What do you want with Gwen?”
“I only wish to spend time with Gwen. If you must know, I had a vision.”
“What sort?”
Silas turned around. The whisper in the back of his mind told him to tell this man everything. That maybe he might be able to understand.
“The sort that told me, your daughter and I will have a future together. The sort that told me I was supposed to be here, to meet her, and fall in love with her.”
The man stood from his seat laughing, his hand went quickly into the pockets of his overalls. He paced the floor in the small room. Behind him gathered the three coven members of Silas’ house. Ophelia stayed at Silas’ side, but on the far end of the counter.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It is so. I’ve shown her.”
“You what?”
“I showed her the visions. I’ve trained her to use her powers. I’m the one who convinced her that her title, her destiny does not belong to Evelyn.”
“You think the fact that she is high priestess now has anything to do with you? That she believes those visions? That she would dare to have any type of future with a dark witch?”
As calmly as he could muster, Silas clenched his jaw and his fists. “I am not my father.”
“She’s changed him. We all have witnessed it. The darkness is leaving him.” Ophelia rushed over to help. “She’s breaking his curse.”
Silas nodded at her to move away. He didn’t need any of them getting between him and the old man. He would deal with him on his own if that’s what he needed to do to prove himself. Just when he turned back to Alistair the back door burst open.
There, with the morning light behind her stood Gwen, Chester at her side.
“Tell him now,” she said over her shoulder.
“Chester?” Alistair asked.
“Yes, if you will not believe a word from Silas, or from me… I know you will believe it when it comes from him,” Gwen pleaded with her father. She looked to Silas as if to apologize as she said, “I’ve shown him the visions. To prove to my coven that I was not endangering anyone.”
Of course, she had, he thought to himself. She would need them to know that what happened to Daniel was not his doing, nor would any of them be his targets. She walked to him and placed her hand on his atop the counter.
“Father, listen to reason,” she beckoned Chester inside.
“Tell me,” Alistair finally said to the boy who still stood beyond the door.
Chester moved forward and Ophelia quickly moved to close the door. “Whatever he’s said is the truth. I’ve seen the visions. I was there in the woods yesterday. It was not his people. It may not even have been his father’s.”
“You mean to tell me he’s a changed witch?”
“Yes, sir. Whatever it is between them…it’s made him different these last months.”
“Months?”
“Father.” Gwen stood her ground and Silas only loved her more for it. She entwined her fingers in his and squeezed tightly as if to tell him it would all be ok.
“Very well. However, if anything happens to her, to anyone un
der our protection, I will see to your end.”
“I will always keep her safe. No matter what it may appear like, she will never be harmed.” Silas moved his hand from within her and wrapped it around her shoulder. “There may come a time when it appears you may have been right, but I give you my word, she will be fine.”
Silas knew Alistair knew of his gifts, just as everyone had. The death watcher had many, Seraphina and Seth had started what the Crawford and Sigmis lines would be, as they were both blessed with powers from the earth goddess. He had more than the average death watcher, and Gwen had more yet. Though he knew the old man would not ask, no one ever did. He knew of the visions, and everyone knew the consequences of trying to change them. Silas doubted anyone other than he and Gwen knew of Seth’s consequences, and the curse it gave his entire family. Although, Alistair, not a Crawford by birth seemed to know a bit more about the Sigmis family. Silas could tell simply by the old man’s silence as he turned around and walked past Chester and out the back door.
“Thank you,” Silas said to Chester once the old man was gone. “I know that took a lot for you to say.”
“Yeah, well it was come and speak on your behalf or have Gwen hate me for eternity. I know more about her grudges than most.” He sat down on the stool closest to the door. “Is that coffee?”
Chapter XIV
The solstice rites came and went without incident. Alistair stood vigil as Silas and Gwen were bound together in the rite. As far as the Wiccan community was concerned they had been married, bound together by the earth goddess. The covens quieted about taking Gwen’s title from her. Even Evelyn seemed to back away from the idea as Silas and Gwen showed a united front among them all.
The winter went by without a word from Sigmis, or from the unidentifiable coven that attacked them in Dublin. Silas spent each day waiting for him to pounce, and when his father stayed quiet, Silas became comfortable within his new surroundings.
He and Gwen passed the days by reading the journals they owned between the two of them. Those Gwen had, that were once Seraphina’s and those that had belonged to Seth. Together they deciphered what Seth had tried to change and why the Sigmis family had become cursed to begin with. He was desperate and in love, and when he could not change the outcome of a single moment in time, that was when his life was altered.
They’d also learned of a curse placed on the Crain line. Not anything any of the Crain men would ever know about, but one created by Seraphina herself in a moment of weakness and darkness. Seraphina had succumbed to the darkness within her, just once. When Magnus had taken a wife, and bore a son. She worked a spell to keep the woman from being able to nurse her child. Causing the woman to self-loath, and with her second pregnancy, she’d tried to use magic to cure herself. She was only trying to make certain she would be able to feed her child. Instead, the child was stillborn.
Magnus’ wife then used a spell from the book of moons at Seraphina’s bequest to undo the magic she caused. Seraphina was quick to mention she would not help beyond allowing her access to the book. It was the woman’s choice as to which spell she would use. In the journal, Seraphina wrote of it:
March 10, 1871
Magnus has no idea what his wife has done to him and his future line. She made certain no woman married to a Crain man would live to see the birth of any daughter. The silly little wench. She killed her child and now will condemn herself to hell. The goddess will not find favor with her for this. Certainly, she will be punished.
March 15, 1871
He weeps. It hurts me on the inside, but I can barely listen. I wait for word from Seth, and Magnus weeps for the loss of his wife. A woman he should never have wed. Now, I am stuck with the task of seeing to his child. A son that will no doubt have the same fate as he. How am I to tell one of the men I love, that he will never love again? For if he does, the woman will surely meet the same fate. Serves him right for dismissing me. I saved his life too many times to count, and still, he cannot accept me. Well, it’s of his own doing…this thing that has happened. Now, we can never be. For if he were to choose me as a bride I would meet the same end. No, it is done.
“Seraphina was so cold.”
Gwen paced back and forth across the floor of the living room. She’d found it particularly difficult to find a place in the room where she was able to feel rested. Silas knew the vision he’d showed her still weighed heavily on her mind.
“She had the darkness holding her. I’m betting she had no idea how to keep it from taking hold of her, or that it was even happening.” Silas knew all too well of how the darkness could root itself within the mind. It spoke to him for more years than he could remember.
“Still. She loved him. Shouldn’t that have helped her, like our love has helped you?”
“I think because he hadn’t felt the same for her it wasn’t like what we have. How I was able to overcome.”
“What about this curse though? How do I tell Chester about this?” She looked at him, her amber eyes glowing. Silas knew she was trying to reach him between their minds. She still could only manage to convey feelings. Not yet words.
“I’m not sure. Maybe carefully.”
Chester had vowed to protect her still, once they’d been bound together. He took up residence in a small house on the back side of the property. Just as his family had done for the Crawford’s before. He was still bound by an oath he did not make. Even though it was a title only, he wouldn’t leave her. Not since Daniel.
Silas could see the tears well up behind her eyes. She let her wall drop while they were together and alone. He knew it was hurting her to have the information and not share it with her friend. Just as he knew it was her information to share.
The phone on the wall rang at the same time the knocks started at the front door. Gwen jumped at the combination. Silas ran to the door pointing for her to get the phone. He opened the door to find Marshal standing there. His dark hair was disheveled, his clothes a wrinkled mess.
“Silas!” He doubled back between his wife’s cries and her friend's somber face. The phone receiver fell to the floor and Silas felt Gwen inside himself. He had to put up a wall to overcome the emotions he’d felt from her.
Running back into the house he heard Marshal close behind. She was on the floor with the phone cradled in her hand, both laying on the hardwood.
“What’s happened?”
“Not again. Not another.” Her tears fell freely and Marshall looked as if he too, would begin to cry.
“One of you, please tell me what’s going on,” he begged.
“It’s Crystal. She’s gone,” Marshall whispered the words so low Silas could barely hear him.
The ride to the Tanner house was the longest fifteen minutes Silas had ever spent in a car. When they arrived, Philip and Liana were standing outside with Alistair, Barnaby, and Cinnabar. The whole town looked as if they had gathered around the Tanner house. Some magical and some not. Silas looked to Gwen who nodded. She would know exactly how to proceed while humans roamed around the house.
Gwen exited the car last as Alistair tried to get the neighbors under control. She wore regular clothes. Leaving her cloak at home. The Tanner’s did not live in the seclusion of the country roads. They lived in a bungalow in the middle of the small town. Business offices, parks and schools surrounded them. Silas could only imagine how Marcus’ parents had reacted when they found their daughter to bring on such a large crowd.
Marshal told the two of them that she had been found hanging from a rope around her neck in her bedroom. Although there were plenty of ways she could have done it herself. Nobody would believe she hadn’t been put there by magical means.
Silas followed Gwen into the house while the neighbors were occupied. As her husband and a high priest in his own right, the community as a whole had taken to him being at her side, though she was still their coven leader. It had only taken a few words of encouragement from the Crawford’s for them to do so.
The house was sma
ll. Brighter than anything Silas had ever been in before. The sun shone through windows on every wall. The light buttercream walls reflected it and bounced it around the room so that the small home looked brighter inside than the gloomy day that was transpiring outside.
They walked up the stairs to the room, Gwen knew was Crystal’s. The two girls had been friends since grade school. She had put her wall up, but Silas didn’t need empathic abilities to know she was at a loss. She was simply going through the motions. She carried the book of moons hidden under her jacket, but produced it once they were inside the room painted lavender. Crystal still hung from the ceiling as if nobody had seen her yet. Gwen didn’t look up, but bent down with the book and placed her hands about twelve inches above it.
The pages of the book began to move. She looked up at Silas, but he didn’t budge.
“You won’t go near it, will you?”
“No. Not after healing myself. I won’t take the chance. I’ll help you from here.”
She smiled briefly. He knew without a doubt he’d just passed another of her little tests to make sure the darkness was really out of him. Being drawn to the book would only bring it back.
While she looked at the spell she needed to cast, Silas looked up. He could see the angle at which Crystal’s neck had broken. The small trickle of blood that escaped her mouth and even her eyes. He couldn’t tell if those were things that would have happened naturally.
Gwen looked up once she was done. She looked at her friend with a stone-cold look in her eyes. She studied the way the rope pulled at the skin around her neck, and then the small chair that had been tipped over at her feet. She was promised by the Tanner’s that they hadn’t moved anything. Everything was as they found it.
The note sat on the desk still. The one that told a story of a young girl lost because of the death of her love. Next to it, the ring she was given by Daniel’s parents after they’d discovered it. She could go on no more, but her family swore she would never have done such a thing.
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