by R. M. Walker
She opened it carefully, going through page after page of hand-drawn pictures of leaves, ingredients, and pressed flowers. Some of the pages were stained, and sure enough, at the back of the book were the same pages of symbols and runes. These also looked as if they’d been drawn in blood. She turned the last page, and her heart stopped. The back page held only an image, one she’d seen before. The snake eating its own tail with the compass points around it. The same symbol on Drew’s ring.
“You’ve found his books of potions.” Josh slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his warm chest.
“What’s that, Josh?” She pointed at the symbol.
“I’m Jacob,” he whispered, nuzzling his nose under her ear. She shuddered in his hold. He chuckled against her skin, then he licked a path under her ear to her jawline.
“You’re Josh.”
“How do you know? You never get it wrong.” He pecked tiny kisses along her jawline.
“I don’t know. I just do.” Her bones began to melt as she pressed against him. She wanted to turn in his arms and kiss him.
“Nate, Matt, and Jonas are the only ones we can’t ever fool.” He slid his hands to her hips and turned her slowly. His lips grazed over her skin till they settled over her mouth.
Their kisses were awkward at first; neither sure which way to move, both as inexperienced as the other. The feel of him was intoxicating, and when he tentatively brushed her lips with his tongue, she gave him the access he wanted. He took her thoughts and swept them away as she clung to him. He stepped forwards, pushing her backwards, crowding against her in a sinful way. Gripping her hips he lifted her to sit on the edge of the table. She slid her hands into his hair and lost herself in his kisses.
He pressed his nose into her neck as they both struggled to catch their breath. She rested her chin on his shoulder and saw Jake standing in the doorway with one arm tucked across his chest. He nibbled his thumb as he watched them. Heat flooded her face and she tensed, waiting for him to get angry.
He winked at her and lifted his thumb away from his mouth long enough to blow her a kiss.
“Jacob’s fine with it,” Josh whispered into her neck. “We both want you.”
“How did you know he was there?” she asked as he stepped back from her.
He lifted her to the floor and kissed the end of her nose. “I can feel him. He liked watching us.”
“You can feel him?” She ignored the fact he liked watching them, not sure what to feel about that.
“He is me,” Josh said with a shrug.
Jake pushed himself away from the door and stalked towards them. “Hello, gorgeous.” His voice was husky. He leant forwards to press his lips to her forehead. “Coffee is ready.”
“Hang on, what do you mean you can feel him?” Lily looked between them.
Josh kept one arm around her waist and sidestepped to allow Jake to step closer. Jake slid his arm around her back, his gaze on Josh.
“We think it’s because we’re mirror twins, as well as magic. Do you know how mirror twins are made?” Jake asked.
“Yes. The egg splits much later than normal identical twins.”
Jake moved till they were both so close she could feel their body heat.
“We’ve always been able to know when the other is close. A lot of twins will tell you they have a twin sense, but ours seems to go further. He hurts, I hurt. I hurt, he hurts. Our magic just binds us closer.” Josh tipped his head down and pressed a kiss to her lips.
“It’s just the way we are.” Jake shrugged. “We want to test something.”
“You always know which of us is which,” Josh added. “We want to know if you can tell who is kissing you if you keep your eyes closed.”
The thought of both of them kissing her made her stomach flip and her toes curl. She nodded at them.
“Close your eyes, and don’t cheat. We’ll both kiss you, so keep them closed till we say you can open them.” Josh winked, and they both stepped back from her.
She closed her eyes and heard shuffling and whispering as they moved about. Her fingers clenched into the edge of the table. Her breath hitched in her throat.
One of them pressed his lips to hers, but there was no other contact. She stayed perfectly still with her eyes closed, resisting the urge to peep. His lips slanted across hers. His tongue demanded an entrance she gave happily. He stroked his tongue gently over hers and her stomach flipped. It was Jake. Her hands came up, but her wrists were caught and held out to the side.
She didn’t have time to think before she was being kissed again. She instantly knew it was Josh kissing her. She tried to approach it technically—to work out how she knew—but his mouth made her head fuzzy and thinking difficult. He stepped back and she moaned at the loss of his kisses.
“Keep them closed,” Josh whispered, his voice low. “Who kissed you first?”
“Jake.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am. But maybe...” She licked her lips. “Maybe I should double check—” She didn’t get any further. A mouth ground against hers, and she knew it was Jake. Josh’s lips connected with the side of her neck, and she gasped into Jake’s mouth. She was crushed back against the table as they stepped closer, closing the gap between them and her. Jake slid his hand into her hair while Josh had his hand low on her back.
“Hey! Funny way to make coffee.”
Lily jerked backwards. She’d forgotten where she was. She’d forgotten everything except them, and Matt’s voice was like cold water over her.
“We’re conducting an experiment.” Jake winked at her as he spoke then turned to Matt. “We’ve discovered that Lily can tell us apart with her eyes shut. She never gets it wrong, not even when we try to kid her.”
“You just know?” Matt asked and came towards her. They stepped back from her, but Josh kept his hand on her lower back.
She nodded, searching Matt’s face for some sign that it bothered him to see her kissing the twins. His face was closed and he avoided her eyes as he looked over her shoulder.
“You’re looking through his book?” he asked.
“I was curious. I was very careful with it.”
“Don’t worry. It’s fine. He’ll be pleased you were interested. None of us are interested in hedge magic,” Jake said.
“Hedge magic?”
Josh closed the book. “Yeah, spells that use plants. Witches that only use this form of magic are called hedge witches. In medieval times, most villages had a hedge witch, the ancient version of a GP.”
“Like potions?”
“More or less.” Jonas came out with Nate right behind him. “Plants have healing properties, as you probably know. Alternative medicine.”
“Do they use a cauldron? Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble?” She heard Nate snort.
“Not all the time. Some are brewed, and traditionally, a cauldron was used. But any pan of copper or iron will do the trick,” Jonas said. He stopped beside her and pointed at the rows and rows of plant pots. “Most you dry, like lavender or rosemary. Some you use the seeds. Like these...” He picked up a small glass tumbler and held it out. “Morning glory seeds.”
“They’re a hallucinogenic, aren’t they?” Lily looked up at him.
“If consumed, but put under your pillow, they act like a dream catcher, preventing nightmares.”
“I could do with those,” Lily said. “I’ve never had so many bad dreams since moving here.”
“Bad dreams?” Nate stepped forward. “You’ve been having nightmares? You should have said.”
“Not nightmares as such. I just seem to wake up thinking someone’s in my room. I’m being silly.”
“Probably because of the break in,” Matt said, his fingers moving to tap on his thigh.
“What were the dreams like? Describe them,” Jonas said.
“Oh, it’s a load of nonsense really. I don’t get that many. Just waking up thinking ther
e’s someone there. Of course there never is. Bad dreams, that’s all. I think with everything I’ve learnt, my imagination runs riot when I sleep.”
“You’re in one of the old mining cottages.” Jonas took a pouch from under the table and removed several leaves from it. He placed them into a pestle and then added seeds and different leaves.
“You think it’s haunted?” Matt asked.
Jonas shook his head as he ground the contents together. “Maybe not haunted, but they are old.” He picked up a wooden teaspoon and scooped the mixture into several rough cotton bags and handed them to Lily.
“What’s this?”
“Marigold, hawthorn, fennel, and a hint of lavender. They’ll help repel negative energy.”
“Will it stop the dreams?”
“It won’t hurt to try,” he said. “Put one on your windowsill, one by your bedroom door, and the other under your pillow. They’ll help you sleep as well.”
“Not a ring of salt then?” she asked, wondering when all this would seem normal to her and not straight out of a fantasy book.
“Salt will repel negative energy, but the slightest draught or movement and the ring can be broken. Chalk can work, but you’d have to explain why you’ve drawn a chalk ring around your room to your mum.”
She lifted the bags to her nose, inhaling the smell of lavender. “They smell good. Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome,” Jonas replied and turned to face her. “I think something is blocking your ability to see, and I don’t think it’s denial.”
“Denial?” Lily frowned at him. “You thought I was in denial still?”
“It was a possibility, especially considering the Scrabble board. However, you wouldn’t have accepted those charms if you still denied your ability.”
“How do you know I’m not humouring you?”
“They smell good to you,” he said with a smile. “It was a kind of test, and I make no apology this time.”
“You spelled them?” Nate asked in surprise.
“They wouldn’t hurt you,” Jonas said. “It was a quick repelling spell. You would be repulsed by the smell, that’s all.”
Lily blew out her breath and shook her head, but Nate, being Nate, had picked up on it straight away.
“So, if it’s not Lily, what is blocking it?”
“I don’t know, but something is.” Jonas sighed and pushed his hands through his hair. “Let me research it and get back to you.”
“In your books?” asked Lily.
“Yes. I know a few people I can put discreet feelers out to as well,” he said.
“So you know others like you?”
He nodded and went back towards the kitchen. “Shut the door behind you. It’s spelled to keep the heat in, but if I leave the door open the plants don’t like it.”
“You said there weren’t many like you left.” She pushed between the twins to follow him.
“There aren’t,” he said as he crossed to where the twins had put six mugs on the table. “Over the years, I met others like us, and we’ve stayed in touch.”
“How do you know there are less then?” she asked.
“I told you. I’ve researched it.” He picked up his mug and sipped at it. His eyes were on her as she stopped in front of him. “There are significantly fewer now than even a hundred years ago.”
“Surely magic is everywhere,” she said, pointing back at the greenhouse. “In nature. In plants.”
“Yes, there is magic in plants, else those pouches wouldn’t work. But hedge magic and our magic, magic in humans, is far removed from each other. Magic in people is getting less.”
She looked down at the bags in her hand. It still didn’t tally with what Drew had told her. And she still hadn’t found out what the symbol was.
“In the back of your book, there’s a symbol—an Ouroboros. Why is it there? What is it?”
He took a sip from his mug then turned to the sink. He was going to ignore her, he wasn’t going to answer her, and it made her anxious and suspicious.
“It’s the symbol of the Council of One,” he said as he rinsed out his mug. “An ancient order that is obsolete now.”
“Council of One?” She looked at Nate, but he shrugged at her.
“A Council formed hundreds of years ago to keep the practitioners of magic safe. It was useless at best, dangerous at worst,” Jonas said.
“Dangerous?”
“It failed. It had one task; keep fae and witches safe. And it failed, not just witches; innocent people were accused and tried for witchcraft when all they’d been guilty of was a knowledge of healing plants. A lot of the women who were tried and hanged for witchcraft didn’t have a magical bone in their bodies.”
“Does it still exist? Was it just one person?”
“One purpose.” He turned to face her, leant back against the sink, and folded his arms. “The Council of One Purpose. There are always seven, no leader. Just seven from the different abilities. Five fae, two witches, and one Seer. The one purpose is to govern the use of magical powers—not restrict it, but govern its use for everyone’s safety. As you can tell by a quick look at history, it failed.”
“You keep saying, is and are. Does it still exist?” she asked again.
“You’ve never told us about it,” Matt spoke just as she did, and it was to Matt that Jonas looked.
“Didn’t give it much thought. It was formed so long ago in history and”—he looked at Lily—“to answer your question, no, it doesn’t exist as it once did. Its failure to keep witches, fae, and ordinary people safe was its death knell.”
“Why a snake? Why the Ouroboros? And the compass points?” she asked.
“That’s a very old symbol, goes right back to ancient Egypt,” Jonas said and took Josh’s empty mug from him. He turned away to rinse it out. “It’s also the mathematical symbol for infinity. It means many things to many cultures. Ouroboros is a Greek word meaning ‘tail devourer’, but the symbol goes back further than the Greeks. Its first recorded use was found in ancient Egypt representing the travels of the sun disc. It’s seen in Phoenician history then the Greeks, who gave it the name Ouroboros. In mythology, it represents the Milky Way galaxy, the serpent of light in the heavens, the Milky Way being the serpent. Its centre point is near Sagittarius, where it eats its own tail. In Alchemy, it represents the spirit of mercury. It symbolises continuous renewal. A snake is the symbol of resurrection, constant rebirth, a cycle of life and death.” He drew in a breath and turned back to face them again. “It’s found everywhere. The serpent Jurmugand of Norse legend, one of the three children of Loki.”
“Who grew so large it encircled the world and grasped its tail in its teeth,” Josh said.
“Guarded the Tree of Life,” Jake added.
“Well, it’s good to know you listened to something I taught you.” Jonas smiled at them. “You’ll find the same symbol in Hindu, Aztec, and Chinese alchemy.”
“So for magic, what does it mean?” Lily found the history fascinating, but he hadn’t answered her question.
“You’re full of questions, Lily. You remind me of others I know.” He winked at the twins.
“What does it mean?” She wasn’t going to let it drop. Was it something he didn’t want her to know? Was he hiding something?
He moved past her. Frustration rushed through her; he was going to ignore her again.
“Rebirth. It means the rebirth of magic,” he said.
“Reincarnation?” Nate asked in surprise. “Reincarnation is real?”
“Not like you imagine it,” Jonas replied. “Souls aren’t reborn. They move on. So, if you’ve been getting dreams of being a historical world leader, Nate, it’s not an excuse for being so bossy. You aren’t a reincarnation of a general at war.”
“I’m not that bossy,” Nate muttered.
Lily sent him a sideways look. “You are!” She gave Jonas her attention. “So what does rebirth in ma
gic mean?”
“How many times, boys!” Jonas moved towards the door that led into the greenhouse and closed it. “Were you all born in a barn? Shut it when you come out!”
“Sorry, that was me.” Matt winced. “I was last out.”
Jonas rolled his eyes at him then checked the clock on the wall. “What time was your film?”
“Oh, bugger.” Nate checked his watch. “We have to go, or we’ll miss it.”
Lily wanted to demand that Jonas tell her more. He had evaded her questions and given the barest details when it had been unavoidable. He was hiding something. She was almost certain that he knew something he didn’t want them knowing, including the boys, judging by how they knew nothing of the Council. She had a feeling that the symbol was important, it had to be; Drew’s ring was identical and Jonas refused to elaborate on it. Next chance she had she was going to ask Drew what the ring meant and what he knew about the Council.
Circle of Five
“Can I use the internet on your phone please, Matt?”
He slid his keys into the ignition of the Land Rover then drew his phone from his pocket. He handed it over to her. “Sure. Remember the code?”
“1234,” she said absently as she put it in.
“You really need to either take the code off or change it.” Nate sighed from the back. “It’s so easy to hack. What’s the point of having it on there?”
“What are you looking at, Lily Flower?” Matt ignored Nate.
“I’m interested in the Ouroboros.”
“He taught us mythology when we were nine. Greek and Norse,” Josh said. “Some things stuck.”
She scanned through page after page of information, but it was mostly what he’d already told them. “He’s right, the symbol is everywhere. So what didn’t he want me to know?” she said to herself.
“What?” Matt peered at her quickly before looking back at the road. “What do you mean by that?”
“What did you say, Lily May? I didn’t hear you,” Nate demanded from the back.
“I said what doesn’t he want me, or possibly all of us, to know? What’s he hiding?”