by Kat Bostick
At first Mari’s head rolled to the side. With some concentration she managed to straighten her neck and absorb her surroundings. Dozens of candles lined the circle. Standing just beyond it were six women—Lyse included—and a man that Mari recognized as Alexander. They each wore black clothing but there seemed be no coordination in style. Jasper was positioned between them, watching her with the sharp movement of a predator tracking prey.
Mari’s eyes settled on the witch standing proudly beside him. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’ve told you why.” Lyse said in a reprimanding tone. “Why did you side with the wolves? Did they force you? Have they harmed you?”
“They wouldn’t. They’re only protecting themselves.”
“Ah, aren’t they always? Killing young witches, not even come into their power, to protect themselves from the potential threat a green witch poses.” The luminary sneered. “Tell me, Mariella, when is the last time you saw a green witch harm a fly? Witches are gentle creatures, nurturing and kind by nature. It’s those qualities that made us weak. That’s why you have fallen for the wolves. They’re not puppies for you to play with.”
“And they’re not weapons for you to wield.” She countered. “They’re people.”
“People?” Lyse laughed. “When will you learn? They’re tools, crafted by us for us.”
“Jasper is a person.” Mari looked at the red wolf with a pleading gaze. “He’s not an animal, he’s not a tool, and he’s not a mindless killer. He’s no different than you. I know that some wolves have committed terrible crimes, but haven’t witches too? The wolves want what you want; safety for their families, peace.”
“No witch has ever committed an act as violent as a wolf.” Henrick interrupted.
Mari attempted to shake her head. “That doesn’t make all of them guilty! Jasper has a family. He has dreams and desires. Don’t dehumanize him.”
“You have such an innocent heart, sister. That is why I want you by my side. I need your softness to guide my judgments. But here, your kindness is weakness. It gave them an opportunity to manipulate you, to lie to you, to fool you into thinking they want you for anything more than your gift.” Lyse linked her hands with the women on either side of her. “Watch, I’ll show you what they are made for.”
“What are you doing?” She asked in a frantic tone as the rest joined hands, stepping into the circle as one.
“Channeling strength from my brothers and sisters.” Lyse explained with a warm smile. “I’m going to borrow from you, Mariella, to show you what you and I can do together. You might feel some discomfort. Don’t worry, it’s only temporary.”
“Borrow from me? No. I won’t allow it. What you’re doing is wrong, Lyse. That’s why I don’t want to join your coven.”
Each member of the coven exhaled a loud breath and bowed their heads. Then eerie whispered words drifted around her. They simmered into chants, voices rising in volume, Lyses’ the loudest and most potent. Mari could actually see the magic forming from their incantations the way she had the night of her rites. The witches and wizards to either side of Lyse had green light growing around them, interspersed with hues of blue.
She’d never witnessed a coven in practice before and now she wished that it was under different circumstances that she was seeing this. Practicing her craft as a true witch was new to her but Mari understood the divine splendor of it. It was a heavenly dance, a chorus of worship that called to that ancient, knowing part inside of her that was witch. All of the mothers and sisters that came before her were close now, drawn to the familiar comfort of kinship and coven.
If not for the uncomfortable pressure it placed on Mari’s chest, she would have found it to be terribly beautiful.
Yet, it wasn’t all beautiful. Something was wrong with Lyses’ magic. Radiant gold and green light wove around the luminary in a tapestry of light but interwoven in the colors were filaments of a tar-like substance. As Mari focused on the growing threads of rot, the magic on her tongue lost it’s fizz, becoming so acrid it made her gag. Was this what Gran meant when she described a witch corrupted by black magic? Had Lyse corrupted her own soul?
Despite it’s unnatural tinge, the power gathering around Lyse felt familiar. Not exactly like Mari’s magic but it was a sister, born of the same womb, gifted from the Blue Goddess. Though it was corrupt, she could still touch the sweetness in the center of it. This was a magic built for love, for family, for guidance, for balance. It embraced her like a welcoming mother and she felt tears spilling from her eyes.
The incantation seemed to go on for hours. Over time the excess of magic leaving the coven to fill the circle crept into Mari’s body, snaking through her veins and making her squirm. It was as if too much adrenaline had entered her system at once and was buzzing beneath her skin. Soon she was whimpering in discomfort and writhing in the chair, the ropes binding her wrists chafing painfully against her skin.
In a desperate attempt to center herself, Mari sought Jasper’s eyes. He was staring straight through her. Yet when their gazes met, there was a glimpse of recognition. For one breath, Jasper was himself again. The man was still inside of the wolf. And, Mari realized with relief, he was still inside of her. That thin connection between them was weak but it was not broken.
The coven dropped their hands and once again, Jasper was gone. Mari’s ears hummed, phantom voices still echoing their chants. The men and women standing around her looked spent, completely drained of energy and life force. All of them but Lyse. She glowed with a supernatural aura as she absorbed the magic from the air. The pressure on Mari’s chest worsened as puffs of gold magic were siphoned from her and into the luminary.
“What are you doing?” Mari asked again in desperation. “You don’t have to use black magic to protect your coven. You’re only hurting yourself.”
“Shh. Don’t fret, little sister.” Lyse shushed her. “There is no black magic. It’s a lie told by weak witches to keep us in line. Witches like your grandmother. They fear their own power. They fear sisters like you and I.” She smiled, expression slightly crazed as power vibrated inside of her. “Watch.” She ordered.
As soon as she spoke, a large shape appeared just beyond the circle. Several more wolfish silhouettes followed. Trailing behind them, panting and looking completely addled was Clem. She was the only member of the pack who couldn’t wear the skin of the wolf but that didn’t mean she was immune to Wolfbann magic.
“Mari!” Clem cried quietly. “I couldn’t stop them.”
“Run away, Clem!” Mari shouted. “Get out of here!”
Clem didn’t move. Whether she was refusing to heed Mari’s word or spellbound was unclear. The she-wolf wobbled on her feet, her eyes coming in and out of focus. The rest of the pack wore the wolf, their heads high, and gazes as blank and lifeless as Jasper’s. Mari had seen this in that terrible dream. The wolf pack that killed without cause or mercy. All of that would be Lyses’ doing.
“You could be a part of this, Mariella. I want you by my side. For all of my life I have longed for a sister to share in this most perfect form of magic with me.” Lyse stepped closer and cupped Mari’s faced. “Join my coven. Help me save our sisters.”
“You promised to break Jasper’s curse and you lied. You kidnapped me. How can I join your coven if I can’t trust you?” Mari didn’t really have a plan but if she stalled Lyse long enough, maybe one would come to her.
“Ah, yes, I have deceived you, haven’t I? I had to be certain that I wouldn’t lose you and the wolf again. That night of our visit I released him from my hold but not from my spell. After your call, I stated crafting a plan to free you from the wolves. I know they forced your hand, keeping you prisoner and holding you back from your destiny. Then you started working your magic against my spell again and I couldn’t let you continue. We had no more time.” She rubbed her thumb along Mari’s chin. “How did you do it? What magic of Ina have you learned and where have you learned it?”
“I haven
’t used any magic on him.”
“Don’t lie to me, sister. I couldn’t just feel it overtaking my spell, I could see it. It’s a gradual bond that you interlace with the wolf, nothing like mine. Don’t tell me you aren’t casting such powerful magic right under my nose. There is much that I want to teach you but it seems you have a new trick that you could teach me, too.”
“I have no hold on him.” Mari frowned. “I only called him to change, a spell you obviously know.”
“Perhaps just as you didn’t know what you were, you don’t know what you are capable of. When you complete the blood ritual to join us, I’ll discover what this magic is. Are you ready, Mariella? Are you ready to join me in sacred sisterhood?”
Mari experienced plenty of doubts before tonight. She couldn’t excuse the curse on Jasper but she could appreciate the reason. Lyse had a good cause. But she’d opened herself to darkness in order to further that cause. The part of Mari that was the wise voice of the witch told her that there was no coming back from that much darkness.
It didn’t matter if Mari joined the coven and showered them with light and love. Lyse would descend into evil and that terrible, black spot on her heart would grow until it became a void that swallowed them all.
Mari gazed up at Lyse through the knowing eyes of the witch. “Your heart is dark, sister. I will never let your darkness into me.”
“You would turn your back on your own kind for these creatures?” Anger and what could have been sadness flashed in her dark eyes. In the dim light of the candles, those eyes appeared black, wrong. Lyse was hiding it well but with so much magic inside of her, Mari could see the malevolent force growing within.
“They are also my kind.”
“They are beneath you!” Spittle sprayed from Lyse lips as her face twisted into ugly fury. This was the real her, what was left after darkness ate away the woman. She inhaled slowly and calmed her face into a sympathetic mask. “Very well, Mari. I can get what I want from you but it saddens me greatly to lose you. We are the last Wolfseggners, the sole survivors of queenly blood. It’s shame that you won’t live to pass on that gift to your daughters as I will.” She bowed her head. “Henrick, you know what to do.”
He stepped behind Mari, pinching her jaw open to shove a cloth inside her mouth. She flung her head back but he held steady, quickly wrapping another cloth around her head to gag her. Lyse intended to keep her from casting.
“My mother was a very talented enchantress.” Lyse untucked her blouse from her skirt and slipped her hand under the fabric. “You’ve encountered her work. The Vinculum is her doing. It’s incredible, isn’t it? That chain can withstand heat and force. It can hold any number of magical beings in place. But I have another of her creations, the last she made before her passing, and it is far more valuable.”
Lyse removed her hand from beneath her skirt and with it came a dagger. The blade was short and the hilt unexceptional but a slight disturbance in the air around it like heat waves spoke of the magic it contained. “Many frowned upon this creation but my mother knew it was necessary to bring witches into a new age. My parents made unimaginable sacrifices for this cause. My mother gave her life force to enchant this dagger. And my father? He gave his life at the end of the blade to grant me the magic inside of him. Your mother made a similar sacrifice for you. How thankless of you to misuse her gift.”
Mari bucked against the ropes that held her in place when Lyse came near her with the dagger but it was no use. “Your grandmother didn’t have the power to hold wolves but she had the blood of a Wolfseggner. I needed only a few drops from her to take that power for myself. I hadn’t expected her to die but she was weak. You’re young and healthy. You may live through this. And when I’m done taking what I want from you, perhaps I will set you free.” That crazed smiled returned. “Ah, but I’ve heard you shouldn’t run from a werewolf. They do love to chase.”
The luminary approached with a glint of excitement in her eyes. She was going to take Mari’s magic and Mari was helpless to stop her. She jerked wildly but Henrick gripped her shoulders so tight she yelped. Lyse took Mari’s hand and twisted so that the palm faced upward.
She barked in German and with military precision the entire pack, Clem included, stepped into the circle. The coven stepped back in surprise, moving for the first time since lending their magic to the luminary. A terrible chorus of growls vibrated the space around Mari and she could feel the vicious hunger for blood building inside of each wolf. Jasper was closest to her and the deadly expression on his face nearly broke her.
“I will give you one more chance. This could be yours, Mari. They could be yours.” Lyse stroked the top of Jasper’s head and purred “he could be yours, if that’s what you truly wish. I could look past your desire to lie with beasts. I want you, sister, not merely your power.”
Mari squeezed her eyes shut and prayed harder than she’d ever prayed before. Earth Mother, Mother Moon, I beg for your aid. Give me strength so that I might rid the world of this darkness. Lend me your power and when I am done I will return it thrice over.
There was no surge within Mari’s body, no tingling of magic, but a strange whitish cloud of dust drifted up from the soil. It hung heavy and unmoving in the air around the circle. Was that Earth Magic? It didn’t look like it.
“She’s drawing, Luminary.” Henrick warned.
The wizard jumped back when Lyse swept forward and dragged the dagger down the center of Mari’s forearm from wrist to elbow. At first she barely felt anything, even the pain was dull. Then blood broke from her skin and the burning began. It was agonizing, worse than fire. Mari shrieked into the gag as black and white spots dotted her vision. A choked noise came from Jasper’s throat, echoing her pain. Fury and anguish flooded his eyes but he remained unmoving.
Mari felt as if someone took the seams of her soul and tugged the loose threads, slowly unraveling the very essence of her being. Lyse ran her hand through the blood on Mari’s arm and moaned in ecstasy. She tried to cry out again but her lungs flattened and her chest tightened. Magic seeped out of Mari’s pores in smoky greens and golds. She watched in horror as Lyse breathed it in, absorbing it, taking it for herself.
There was no stopping the luminary. Even now Mari could feel the last of her power trickling through her veins and away from her. Gold and green was sucked into the luminary’s nostrils and her skin was alight with it. An abysmal emptiness was left in Mari’s heart where her magic should have been. Her body became a soulless shell. Mari was the witch and the witch was gone. Only despair remained.
Pain continued to radiate through her when Lyse cut the ropes around her wrists. Mari attempted to stand but she fell forward on her knees, barely able to catch herself. Blood poured down her arm and pooled on her knuckles before seeping into the soil. Her throat was raw but when Lyse removed the gag she still attempted to speak.
“Hush now. You’ll only make it worse.” Lyse crouched beside her and ran bloody fingers down her cheek. “I didn’t want to do that to you. I wanted you to be my sister. You underestimated me, though. I shared in your gift but not in your weakness. I will do whatever it takes to restore our kind to glory, even if it means killing those that stand in my way.”
The scent of Mari’s blood and fear drifted through the air, a heady and delicious invitation for the wolves. The lust for blood was intoxicating to them and under Lyses’ spell that instinct went unchecked by man. They wouldn’t be able to restrain themselves much longer. Mari knew what her fate would be but at least they would free her from the pain in her body. At least she would no longer be broken, empty, desecrated.
Lyse inhaled a shuddering breath. “How did you hide this? You were so powerful. I’ve never encountered another of our kind, another witch of any kind, that contained so much power within them. I’m surprised it didn’t consume you.” The luminary actually began to cry. “You would have been so talented with my guidance. Someday you would have taken my place as the strongest luminary in the world.
It’s a shame.”
“And ironic, too.” Henrick chimed in. “You chose these beasts over us and now they’ll be your destruction.”
“Bitterness is an ugly look on you, Henrick.” Lyse snapped. “We should finish this. Get up, Mariella. I will give you a moment to pray.”
Mari pushed against the ground beneath her, resigned to her death. What else could she do? She was helpless now, as useless as she always thought herself to be. Any attempt to rise failed as her quaking arms buckled over and over. Even that much effort was excruciating and exhausting. Beside her, Jasper whimpered in pain. Her pain was so great that despite the spell, he could feel it through the connection that bound them as mates.
Gradual magic that binds us together. Mari suddenly understood. That was the magic that Lyse accused her of casting. Ina did have a special form of magic that bound her to a werewolf but it wasn’t witch magic, it was wolf magic. Fighting through the pain, she turned her focus inward, seeking out that faint link between her and Jasper.
Now that her body was void of her own magic, that last golden thread was obvious. She’d been so lost in her anguish that she didn’t even notice its continued presence. And she’d been so desperate to avoid the title “mate” and all that came with it that she muted the link, tucking it out of sight so she didn’t have to face her fears. The magic was barely alive, a thin strand sagging and fraying, holding too much weight. In her mind, Mari gingerly wrapped a hand around it and tugged it toward her heart. It jolted at the contact and warmed her chest. She pulled again, reeling it in and winding it around her heart until the pulsing red mass was coated in gold.
Jasper’s eyes blazed. He didn’t so much as flinch but Mari could see him. The red warrior, the man within, was alive and he was ready to serve the justice that was his to deliver. He wanted death and violence and vengeance. Mari tightened her hold on their bond and breathed any energy she had left into that fire in his belly.