Trial by Fire (Covencraft Book 1)

by Margarita Gakis

  She let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “I want to study your mother’s grimoires. Study her, if possible.”

  Again, he seemed tense, conflicted. But he nodded again. “I agree. Her books seem to be the best source we have on the subject. And although I’m stunned to learn she dealt in demon magic, I still trust no one’s magic more than hers.” He hesitated and then added, “I know her intentions must have been good.”

  “Okay,” she said lowly, feeling more settled. She rubbed her eyes a bit and then ran her fingers through her hair and grimaced.

  Yuck. She was glad she didn’t know what she looked like.

  “So, it looks like I’m moving to the Coven,” she said, trying to infuse her tone with brightness. “Wanna come over and help me demon-ward my house?”

  *

  It had been three days since ‘the incident,’ as most of the Coven was calling it. Jade liked to call it ‘that time I kicked ass and took names’ but apparently that was a little long and hard to say.

  So ‘the incident’ it was.

  Paris let her know that Matthew had been evaluated by several doctors and psychiatrists who concluded he was mentally ill. Whether he’d been before his demon deal or as a consequence of it, no one could say for certain. They had a lot of big fancy words for his diagnosis and Paris let her read the official statement. In the end, it merely amounted to ‘bat-shit crazy.’

  They determined the best thing would be a psychiatric facility for supernatural beings where he could receive counseling and care by professionals who dealt with preternatural people on a regular basis. He was being transferred at the end of the week.

  As soon as Paris broke his magic.

  Breaking a witch’s magic was a solemn, serious affair and normally for only four people to witness - the accused, the witch breaking the magic, a third party to evaluate the procedure at the end and a medical doctor.

  Paris asked if she wanted to observe.

  She said yes.

  They were in a small room in the dungeon of the Covenstead, separate and apart from the library. It was cold and clammy and there was the faint smell of copper and burnt ashes in the air. There were no windows, no furniture and no light fixtures. The only light came from three torches pressed into sconces on the wall. Paris explained they’d discovered it was best to not have any technology surrounding them as sometimes it interacted unpredictably with the magic involved.

  There was some kind of incense burning and it made the air thick and hard to breathe. She’d been taking little, shallow breaths but felt like she wasn’t getting enough oxygen and had to give up and breathe in deeply. The smell clung to her soft palate and she just had this feeling like all the mouthwash in the world wasn't going to clear it out for days.

  She shivered a bit and wished she’d brought an extra sweater. She was still stiff and sore all over from the fight and if she caught too much of a chill down here, her bones would ache for the rest of the day, no matter how many hot showers or pain-killers she took. Jade kind of wanted to stand closer to Paris, to get a little residual heat, but he was putting off some serious ‘don’t come near me’ vibes. His posture was ramrod straight and his movements were stilted and slightly awkward. His entire being screamed how much he didn’t want to do this, but also contained an echo of duty, responsibility and obligation.

  She kept her distance.

  There was an itchy spot underneath her cast and she was contemplating finding a ruler and jamming it down there when she heard the approaching feet. A heavy wooden door swung open soundlessly, its hinges well-oiled and immaculate. Matthew was led in by a man Paris had told her was named Josef. He worked in the Counter-Magic Department and Paris said he was a fair and trustworthy witch. He was older, perhaps in his fifties, with greying hair and a long, pointed nose. He kind of reminded her of a really fit Geppetto from Pinocchio.

  Matthew was wearing a collar around his neck and one on each wrist - silver and adorned with runes and markings. Paris told her they were binding collars and they were keeping Matthew from using any magic until Paris could break it. Jade thought they looked beautiful - too pretty to be put to such a grim task. She studied them, wishing she could get a better look at their surface, but the flickering fire-light of the torches didn’t give her much to work with.

  Jade told herself it was because she was interested in the markings and not because she was avoiding looking at Matthew’s face.

  She couldn’t restrain herself any longer and her eyes flickered up, into Matthew’s one remaining eye – that eye was staring directly at her. She felt her heart stutter a beat at the empty, blank gaze but she managed to stay still and not move.

  He blinked at her a few times, like he was trying to remember her or place her and then he smiled.

  It creeped her out and this time she couldn’t stop herself from flexing her shoulder blades in an effort to make the space between them stop tingling.

  Dr. Gellar came in behind Matthew, a small medical bag in her hands. She nodded at both Paris and Jade and then took up a spot in one of the corners of the room, away from the center.

  Josef led Matthew to the center of the cell where some kind of warded circle had been etched into the stone. It looked like it had been drawn over with chalk and Jade wondered if Paris had done it himself or if they had someone at the Coven who specialized in things like that. Matthew stood in the center of the circle and spun around - making a full rotation until he was again staring at Jade.

  She held his gaze and willed herself not to move.

  Paris held a heavy, thick book in his hands and it kind of reminded Jade of being in church - the whole six times she’d been.

  When Paris started to talk, his voice was quiet, almost soft, but the small space had no furnishings to absorb any of the sound and it seemed to resonate for much longer than it should. He iterated the charges Matthew was facing which had slightly formal words like ‘persecution of a fellow and kindred witch,’ and ‘consorting with darker elements for the malediction of a brethren coven member.’

  She supposed no matter what you called it, it still amounted to ‘bat-shit crazy.’

  Matthew kept his one eye focused on Jade the entire time and she refused to look away. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Paris flipping the pages of the book until he found what he was looking for and then he started to read, his words foreign and strange, sounding like all consonants and no vowels.

  Matthew started to twitch and flinch slightly as the circle beneath him glowed. Paris continued to read and Matthew started to make a whining sound, way in the back of his throat. It made the hair on the back of Jade’s neck stand up straight and she wanted to cover her ears. Then, Matthew started to scream, his voice drowning out Paris’ low, even tone. In the circle, Matthew curled up on himself, falling to his knees, shouting senselessly and Jade thought she could see his magic inside him, folding in on itself, crumpling, like a tin-can being crushed underfoot.

  It was awful.

  Matthew’s voice was shrieking, high-pitched and shrill and he clawed at the collar around his neck, his fingernails gouging into the skin and drawing blood. Dr. Gellar made a move to go forward to him but Josef held up a hand and stopped her with a look.

  Paris didn’t falter, didn’t pause, but when Jade was finally able to look away from Matthew and look at Paris, she saw a sheen of sweat breaking out across his brow and his lips. She saw him starting to shake and tremble with supreme effort.

  Jade didn’t want to imagine what it would have been like for her to have her magic broken, if they had even been able to find someone to do it, but she couldn’t stop from picturing herself in the center of a glowing circle, screaming her lungs out.

  There was a terrible ripping sound, like wet fabric filled with liquid tearing open and Matthew yelped loudly, wildly and then… Then he stopped.

  He started whimpering quietly, lying down on the floor in the fetal position and Josef motioned that Dr. Gellar could g
o to him now. She was on him in a moment, checking his vitals and murmuring softly to him, smoothing his hair back.

  Jade turned and looked at Paris. He was pale and sweating, the fire-light dancing across his face and casting strange and bizarre shadows. He panted a little, like he’d just jogged around the block quickly. He closed his book and looked at her. His eyes were glowing slightly, bright blue and other-worldly.

  She didn’t know what to say, if she should say anything at all. Thanks? Good job? That was one of the most horrible things I’ve seen and I’ve seen some crazy shit?

  Jade managed a curt nod that he returned brusquely before he turned and left the ritual room.

  Josef and Dr. Gellar led Matthew out, his head hanging low although he managed to shuffle his own feet and move under his own steam. Heedless of the chill now, Jade leaned back against the cold, clammy stone and took a few shaky breaths.

  So this was coven life.

  *

  Jade felt like she’d been waiting for a shoe to drop all week.

  She still had to go back to her apartment and pack her things, break her lease and quit her job. To be honest, she had visions in her head of walking in and saying loudly, ‘screw this. I quit!’

  Instead she typed up a rather bland resignation letter, apologizing for the lack of notice but offering to be available via email and phone if anything came up for which she was needed.

  Responsibility sucked.

  Callie and Henri threw her an actual housewarming party and she got to meet their boyfriends. Callie brought all appetizers. Henri contributed a chocolate cheesecake and told her that as long as they ate standing up with the fridge door open, calories didn’t count.

  She might love them just a little.

  Paris helped her demon-ward her little cottage. The portal in the pantry was no more but every time she reached in for a can of soup, she got a little chill down her spine.

  She planned to remove the food and turn it into a storage closet. Though it didn’t really help, she told herself it was because she was worried there was bad woo-woo left behind which could spoil the food. Her decision had nothing to do with her stark fear of her first visitor through the portal.

  Hannah shipped some books on demons and demon magic to Paris for Jade to start studying. Jade was apparently going to meet the all-knowing, ever-wise Hannah shortly and get her tarot cards read. She didn’t know if she should be nervous or not.

  She spent most of her time in the library, a few tables away from Callie, working on her laptop. She didn’t like to read the demon magic books alone - they kind of freaked her out. She liked the idea of someone being close by and she and Callie would often go for lunch or coffee during the day. Josef had come by and asked her if she’d like to work with him in Counter-Magic and she’d tentatively agreed. Starting next week, she’d be taking lessons from him as well as from Paris.

  She must have been getting the hang of the demon magic because she felt the air shift and she looked right to the spot where Seth appeared, grinning.

  “Clever, possum. Look at you! You make me proud.” He clutched at his heart with a dramatic smile.

  This was the only downfall of not working in her home - no warding. But she couldn’t stay locked up forever. She’d had enough of that as a child.

  “I thought you might show up,” she said crossly.

  “I must admit, I was horribly disappointed when you didn’t deal with me. But I can’t hold a grudge.” He shrugged. “I’m sure there’ll be other opportunities.”

  “Why don’t you hold your breath until I say yes?”

  He waved a hand. “Wouldn’t kill me anyway. Besides, I’m sure once you find out all the things I can do, that we can do together, I’m not even going to have to ask you. You’ll be the one asking.”

  “I doubt it,” she said, not taking her eyes off him.

  He looked at the books she was studying, making some faces. “God, these are old. So outdated. So misinformed. If you want, I can tell you where to find some better books.” He looked coyly at her through his lashes.

  “No.”

  Seth tapped his finger on the cover of one of the books. “You play so hard to get, possum. But I think I know something that will pique your interest.”

  “Not listening,” she said, turning back to her book. He leaned over her, draping his arm over her shoulder and she glared at his hand resting casually on her arm. His lips were close to her ear, his breath hot and sticky-sweet.

  “What if I told you all about Lily?”

  She felt her heart rabbit-beat and she tried hard not to react.

  “That’s the thing, possum. You think she’s your secret. But I’ll tell you something. I’ve got a bigger one about you both.”

  She took a deep breath, trying not to think about the sickly sugar smell, about the way his words made her skin itch. “You’re a liar.”

  “Yes,” he said unequivocally. “But not about this.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Yes you do.”

  Jade turned her face to him. He was millimeters away, his eyes dark, deep and wrong. There was no reflecting surface in them, just darkness.

  “Prove it,” she challenged.

  He made a tsk-tsk sound. “You’ll never buy the cow if I give away the milk for free.” He tapped her on the nose. “I’ll let you stew on that for a while. Don’t worry, I’ll be back.” He straightened and took a step away from her. “Or you can always call me. Anytime.”

  He shimmered and vanished, leaving behind his scent, clinging to her clothes, to her skin. She stared at the space where he’d just been, thinking.

  Callie poked her head around the corner, blonde hair swinging. “Hey, who you talking to?” she asked, eyes wide and innocent.

  “No one. Myself,” Jade muttered, finally looking away from where Seth had been and up at Callie.

  Callie gave her a fond look. “You know what they say about talking to yourself?”

  “That it’s fine as long as you don’t answer back?”

  Callie laughed. “That too. But I was gonna say that it usually means it’s time for a coffee break. Henri just texted me. He wants to go to Crema. It’s happy hour in twenty minutes and that means half-price coffee. You in?”

  “Yeah,” she said closing her book and her laptop. She looked up at Callie’s smiling face. “I’m in.”

  She tried to push Seth’s words from her head as she followed Callie out of the library, listening to her bright voice telling her about the upcoming Coven Ball, but she was only half listening. Her brain was stuck on what Seth said, about what he’d implied. About how far she’d be willing to go to find out.

  What if I told you all about Lily?

  “Jade!” Callie said, standing outside the Covenstead, staring at where Jade was stopped still, staring into space. Callie shook her head at her. “What’s got you so pre-occupied?”

  Jade shook her head and faked a smile, one of her best. “Text Henri if we beat him there, he’s paying.”

  She tried to concentrate on Callie’s sharp laughter, warm and bright and not the chill that settled in her chest.

  You think she’s your secret. But I’ll tell you something. I’ve got a bigger one about you both.

  The cold feeling settled deep in her stomach. Jade wondered how long she could hold out against a statement with that much promise.

  * * *

  Continue the story in Counterhex, the thrilling sequel! Available worldwide.

  When a hex falls upon the coven, affecting all witches but her, Jade feels downright ostracized. She knows who’s responsible but can’t prove it. What’s worse, trying to help only threatens her already scant number of friends. Can she control her own burgeoning magic and counter-hex the spell? Should she even try to aid a coven of witches who don't trust her?

  Author Information

  Margarita Gakis loves the art, creativity and romanticism of storytelling. Sometimes, however, the act of putting pen to paper prove
s challenging, elusive. She develops genuine, relatable characters who grow in the hearts of her readers. From that foundation, the stories flourish into a warm friend.

  She enjoys pursuits which blur the lines between the analytical and creative sides of her brain. This includes her day job in electronic data management, where she uses her creativity to solve logical problems, and also her lessons learning to play the cello, where she finds beauty in the structure of music and the instrument. She believes there is a place for both logic and imagination to work together. When they do, the results are magical.

  Margarita has a special spot in her heart for dogs and lives with three of them. It can be a little overwhelming but the quality snuggle time makes up for it.

  She lives in Calgary, Alberta with her family. You can keep up with her at FablePress.com or at http://margaritagakis.wordpress.com