Binding Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 1)

by Debbie Cassidy

Urvashi parked the van outside the mansion. The summons had come that morning, delivered by the same witch who’d escorted me around the Mayfair mansion yesterday. The words One in the Afternoon were scrawled in a loping hand onto thick writing paper.

  It probably would have been quicker to call me. I’m sure the High Witch could have grabbed my number off Drake or Pen, but it was easier to ignore a call than a handwritten note courier delivered.

  So here we were, parked outside the mansion, my heart doing a caged bird thing, my bladder twinging. This was going to be bad. Paimon had been trying to protect me by removing me from the mansion last night, but I had the most awful feeling it had probably made things worse. It screamed guilt. Vritra’s words had confirmed it. The coven blamed me, and I hadn’t been there to defend myself and put out the fire.

  “I’m coming in with you,” Urvashi said.

  That would be awesome. “No. You can’t. I need to face the music alone.”

  She grabbed my wrist. “Remember, this is not your fault. You couldn’t have known what your power can do.”

  Paimon, Vritra and now Urvashi drumming this into me was starting to make me believe it.

  “Do not let them turn you into a scapegoat. She’s the High Witch for fucksake, she should have investigated your power as soon as it emerged, found out why it was bound, instead of dragging you into some chant you didn’t even know. If this is anyone’s fault it’s hers.”

  She was right of course, but it didn’t change the fact that a doorway had been opened and my magick was responsible. Something to do with my damned asura nature no doubt.

  “I’ll be all right.”

  “I’ll wait.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  She glared at me, jaw set stubbornly. “I’m waiting, and if you’re not out in thirty minutes I’m coming in, and trust me, persuasion isn’t my only skill.”

  He eyes flashed dangerously, and for the first time since I’d known her I caught sight of something primal and fierce in her face. A shiver ran up my arms.

  “Yeah … I’ll be back …” I climbed out of the van and headed down the gravel drive.

  Okay, keep cool. Remember this was not entirely your fault. The doors opened as I approached and Henry, the courier guy, stepped back to let me in.

  “This way please, Miss Hunter.”

  He led me through the hallway and past the ballroom, clean and sparkling and devoid of the dead sightless bodies that had been strewn across it the night before.

  I cleared my throat. “How many?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “How many dead?”

  “Thirteen,” Henry said.

  Thirteen dead witches. Oh, god …

  We were in a long corridor leading to the back of the mansion. A dark oak door loomed and Henry pushed it open revealing a massive cottage style kitchen. The scent of fresh bread hit me first, and then I spied the High Witch at the oven pulling out a tray of rolls.

  “Sit,” she said.

  I pulled out one of the chairs at the kitchen table and parked my butt.

  She popped the rolls on a cooling rack just as the kettle on the hob whistled.

  “Tea?” she asked.

  Oh fucking hell, could we just get on with this? Maybe the wait was part of the punishment.

  “Miss Hunter? Would you like tea?”

  If only being offered tea could be the worst of it. “Yes please.”

  She prepared it the proper way—with a teapot and everything—and carried it over on a tray, setting it on the table before taking the seat opposite me.

  “What happened last night was not your fault,” she said.

  Well that wasn’t what I’d been expecting. “I doubt the coven agrees with you.”

  Her piercing blue eyes hardened. “The coven will follow my lead. There will be no persecution.”

  “Good to hear.”

  She smiled, but it was a weary smile, the smile of someone with the weight of the world on their shoulders. “I’ve smoothed the situation and reiterated the fact that you risked your life to expel the Daayan when you could easily have fled and left us all to perish.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “I wager with a little training you would have managed the task alone. The threads you called forth were a unique touch. Very … visual.”

  “I thought … I thought we all did that together.”

  “Oh no my dear, that was all you. We just aided your focus and provided a buffer between you and the immense power that is the skein, but with a little practice you’d have learned how to produce your own buffer.”

  “Like when you were chanting and speaking in my head at the same time?”

  “Exactly.”

  With practice I could be powerful, maybe even more powerful than mother had ever been.

  The High Witch’s smile faded. “I’ve assured the covens this incident will never occur again, but to ensure this I must sever your connection to the skein.”

  My stomach dropped. I could be powerful, but I wouldn’t be. Sever … It sounded so permanent. Of course, it made sense, but it didn’t change the fact I’d come full circle.

  She sighed. “I’m sorry Carmella. You do see it is the only way to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again?”

  I nodded.

  “Your asura power will remain intact of course. That isn’t for the coven to play with. You can still draw on the divine power within you, but, I’m afraid the coven cannot help you master that power.”

  No. For that I’d have to go to Vritra. Admit he’d been right, and that I didn’t belong with the covens after all. I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth. “Will I still be a witch?”

  She sighed. “You have the blood of witches, but it’s the connection to the skein that makes a witch.”

  “So, no.”

  “I’m sorry. The spell acts like a circuit breaker and prevents you having access to the skein.”

  “Why not just bind it like it was before?”

  “Because a binding would shut of access to all your power, including your asura power, and your divine power isn’t something the coven is permitted to meddle with.”

  So whoever bound my power had broken the rules. “When? When will you do it?”

  “I have to prepare. It’s not an easy manipulation, but we should be ready in a couple of days. In the meantime, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you to steer clear of using the skein.”

  “I don’t get it. I used it when I healed myself, and when I opened an envelope.”

  Her brows flicked up. “You used magick to open an envelope?”

  I pressed my lips together. Yeah, pick up on that why don’t you? “Look, the point is, I used magick and nothing happened.”

  “You were lucky. It’s the only explanation. And you could get lucky for months to come, but the covens are not willing to take the risk, even if you are. We lost too many lives last night, and there is a lot of anger. If you won’t do this willingly, I’m afraid I won’t be able to shield you from the covens’ wrath.”

  It wasn’t a risk I wanted to take either. Those witches were dead because of a risk. “Are they all right? The witches who were possessed … did they recover?”

  “Not yet, they’re still recuperating. They recall little of what happened.”

  “How did it happen? How did these Daayans possess them, when as witches, we’re immune to possession?”

  She poured the tea and handed me a cup. “The coven believes because the entities were from another reality the rules are moot and only apply to entities from our reality.”

  The coven believed. But she didn’t. I could see it written all over her face. There was something more.

  I sat forward. “But that isn’t true is it?”

  She took a shaky breath. “What I am going to tell you now must never be repeated. You must give me your oath.”

  “A witches oath?”

  “Yes. Can you do that?”

>   Mother had explained about oaths. How they seemed easy enough, but how not being able to speak a secret could eat you up inside. About witches who had entered into foolish oaths and suffered the consequences when the secret told had been one that could hurt their loved ones or save a life. But in this instance it was an oath to keep a secret connected to what had happened. It concerned me directly, and I needed to know, to understand how the witches had been possessed, because I didn’t buy the whole they-came-from-another-reality-that’s-why explanation.

  “Okay. I’ll take the oath.”

  She held out her hand. “Do you know how this goes?”

  “I think so. We clasp hands, you say the words of the oath, I accept them, and I’m bound to keep my mouth shut.” Literally.

  “Yes, unless I release you from the oath.”

  I held out my hand. “Do it.”

  The High Witch clasped my palm with both her hands and squeezed. Shit she was strong for an old bird. But then, aside from the silver hair, she didn’t really look that old.

  “Fiat iam verborum est signari in medio cordis audientis.”

  Okay, I was getting better at this. Roughly translated it meant, let the words spoken now be sealed inside the listener’s heart.

  “Now you must accept the oath, repeat after me; accipit qui audit verba in corde suo.”

  I repeated the words. My hand grew warm, but the High Witch didn’t release me, because now it was time to tell me her secret.

  “The Daayans that attacked last night weren’t from another reality, they’d been banished there.”

  “By who?”

  “By the original High Witches.” She exhaled and closed her eyes as if it had been a relief to utter the words. “Before the covens, before the witches were born, thirteen humans summoned a demon. Back then the skein was energy surrounding us, no one was connected to it, and no one knew it even existed but these thirteen people. These thirteen scientists discovered it, and using their knowledge of the multi-verse they summoned and trapped a powerful entity from another reality. A bargain was made and their bloodlines were given access to the skein, but the price was … something terrible.”

  I could see where this was going, but I needed to hear her say it.

  “A year from the day the bargain was made, on the anniversary of the day their bloodlines gained their power, each bloodline sacrificed a female to the demon. The demon fed on their souls and the bargain was made permanent.”

  “The thirteen scientists formed the thirteen original covens.”

  “Yes.”

  “The Daayans are the women who were sacrificed. So their souls ended up in another reality.”

  “A Daayan is a spectral witch. A vengeful spirit, and yes, I believe they have been trapped in this hellish reality ever since. I suspect it to be the demon’s home. They belong to him now. They were able to possess the coven witches because we share bloodlines. Over the years, through intermarriage, the coven bloodlines have merged. Mayfair, Piccadilly, Hyde, Soho—we may work under different names and rules, but we are all related.”

  “So I somehow opened the door, probably because of my asura nature.”

  “It is the only explanation. It was you they called the key. You they went after.”

  “And the demon the original witches made a bargain with, what happened to him?”

  The High Witch released my hand. “The binding of your power can take place tomorrow.”

  “Wait what about the d—” demon … Shit, the oath. I couldn’t say the word, as the question was bound to the oath. I narrowed my eyes. “You’re hiding something.”

  She sighed. “Aren’t we all, Carmella? Aren’t we all?”

  “Why tell me everything else but refuse to answer such a small question?”

  “Because the coven needs your help, and in order to help us you need to understand what you are dealing with. The rest does not concern you.”

  “Go on.”

  “When we banished the Daayans last night, one got away.”

  “What? No.” I’d gotten them all … hadn’t I?

  “She’s in Karen’s body, and she’s out there somewhere. I need you to find her and send her back.”

  “What makes you think I can do it?”

  She winced. “You are the key, the only one who can send her back. She will come for you, and when she does, you must be prepared to stop her.”

  “That’ll be a little hard without my magick.” I didn’t even bother to hide the sarcasm. Was it pile shit on Carmella day? “Doesn’t it matter that I could be killed? You’re asking me to basically play bait. She could have come for me last night. Didn’t it occur to you to let me know?” My anger was rising, and I was on my feet. “You know what? I’m done being the scapegoat here. I’m sorry. I truly am, for the deaths, for the doorway opening, but none of it was my fault. How could I know this would happen? Why drag me into a chant without testing my magick first? You knew I was part asura, that I was different. I’m not gonna be sent out there as bait, jumping at every fucking shadow, waiting for her to make her move.”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know. I know and I’m so sorry. But this is the only way to keep you safe.”

  “By leaving me to the mercy of a Daayan?”

  “The Daayan may or may not come for you, but if you don’t take on this task, the covens will come for you, and they will not stop until you are dead. You’re a risk, an anomaly, and I am doing my best to save you. Please. Sit down.”

  Her words resonated with sincerity and the heat went out of my argument. I slipped back into my seat.

  “You have friends?” she asked. “People who will protect you? Like that creature who saved you last night?”

  I touched the cuff at my wrist. “Yeah, I kind of hoped you’d forget about that.”

  “What is he? I’ve never seen anything like him before.”

  “He’s a djinn. They’re kind of a recent arrival to our reality.”

  I filled her in, leaving out the he-gives-me-butterflies parts.

  “You seem to be having an exciting month,” she said.

  “You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.”

  “Do the djinn—”

  “No, they do not grant wishes.”

  She sighed. “I suppose if they did, they could have simply asked you to wish away their problem and find this creature that’s hunting them. But this is good. It means you have protection. You can contact him if you wish. How did you contact him last night?”

  No way was I giving away everything. I could have my secrets too, so I threw her words back at her. “That doesn’t concern you.”

  Her lips twitched. She pushed something across the table. It was an orb around the size of a large pearl, not that I’d ever seen a large pearl in the flesh but …

  “When Karen finds you, or when you find her, hold this to her forehead. It will extract the Daayan, and then you can bring her back to me.”

  Yeah, because Karen was just going to stand there and let me do that, right?

  “The covens have already agreed your access may be returned temporarily at that time, and together we can send her back.”

  Back to the hellish reality. Back to be a demon’s bitch. This sucked. “And if I fail?”

  She sat back, her face grim. “If she doesn’t return soon the bargain will be broken and the demon will have its pound of flesh.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means things are going to get very ugly, for everyone.”

  _____

  “I was just about to come find you,” Urvashi said.

  She started the engine as I strapped myself into the van. “Any way you could drop me off at the IEPEU headquarters?”

  Urvashi pulled away from the curb. “Sure. Now spill it. What just happened?”

  I filled her in on what I could, careful to skirt around the oath information to avoid looking like a stuttering choking fool when the words refused to come. The demon, the t
hirteen sacrifices, that was off limits, but I filled her in on Karen and the fact the High Witch wanted me to find her.

  “Why you though? Why not get the IEPEU involved?”

  Because the possessed witch wants to kill me, so she’ll come to me. No. I couldn’t say that. Urvashi was like a mother hen sometimes, and if I told her she’d never leave my side. Besides I had the cuff. I had Paimon.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe penance for what I’ve done, show the other witches I’m making the effort to clean up my mess. And you know how the coven likes to keep their business as private as possible.”

  “Well, you’re going to need some help.”

  I arched a brow. “Is that an offer?”

  “Hell yes.”

  “That’s great, ‘cos I may need your mojo when they cut me off from the skein in a couple of days.”

  “What the fuck? They can’t do … oh … shit … I guess it’s the only way to make sure this doesn’t happen again, right?” She sobered. “I’m sorry, babe. I really am. To get your powers back only to have them bound again. That sucks.”

  “Yeah it really does. But you know what? I managed without before, I can manage again.”

  “And you still have your asura powers.”

  My stomach quivered. “Yeah.”

  “He’s not that bad you know.”

  “Who?”

  “Vritra.” She gave me a quick glance before fixing her attention back on the road. “He gets a bad rap being an asura and all. But you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. There are two sides to every story.”

  “I haven’t heard any stories. It’s more about how he makes me feel.”

  “Ahuh?” Her tone was suggestive.

  I rolled my eyes. “Not those kinds of feelings. He’s just so overbearing and intense.”

  Urvashi snorted. “Honey, you have no idea. That intensity, when channeled into something more recreational, can be pretty powerful.”

  Oh my god. Had she …?

  She arched a brow. “I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’m not speaking from experience, but I wish I was. It’s just something I heard on the grapevine.”

  “And what grapevine is this?”

  “Oh, the juiciest one. Apsaras like to share.” She winked.

  We drew up outside the IEPEU offices. “You don’t have to wait for me. I’ll get a tram.”