Mark of the Witch (Boston Witches)

by Jessica Gibson

  “So what does this mean? Do we have to get married or something? Because I like you and all, but I don’t really know you all that well yet.”

  “No, we don’t have to get married, although maybe in the future that could be an option,” he said with a laugh. “This is a rare thing we have, Jilly. I don’t want to scare you, but you are it for me now. I feel it in my bones; you’re what I’ve been missing all these years. I’ll go as slow as you want, but I need to be near you.” The look in his eyes spoke of a lifetime of longing, and her heart broke for the years he spent alone.

  She was a little taken aback by all of this, but something in her knew what he was saying was right. She felt complete when he was around. She reached for him and pulled him in close.

  “I don’t know about forever yet, but right now is pretty good, and I’d like to see where this goes. I feel like a void in my life has been filled, and I’m happy for the first time in years. I think you’re responsible for it, but only time will tell.”

  He pulled her in for a kiss, winding her hair up in his hands. She could hear his magic calling to her as they kissed. The sound was intoxicating. After a few minutes, they pulled apart.

  “There a few other things I should tell you,” William said as they both settled back into the cushions. “First, you don’t need to use potions to do big spells; your power is strong enough to stand alone. Potions are sort of a conduit for magic. As you know, there are various herbs and substances that can act as a catalyst for witches. You don’t need anything else; just what flows inside of you.”

  “So why didn’t anyone ever write this down in the grimoire? There have been countless generations of witches in my family. Someone should have recorded that.”

  “I’m not sure anyone ever experienced this. You are the strongest witch in your family line to date, Jilly.”

  “Ok, so what else?”

  “Since we are marked for each other…”

  Jilly interrupted; “You keep saying marked. What does that actually mean?”

  “It means what it sounds like; we are physically marked for each other.” William pulled up his sleeve and showed her the tiny star-like birthmark on the inside of his wrist. Jilly pulled up her sleeve as well and revealed the same birthmark in the same exact spot.

  “Wow, freaky,” she said.

  “Yes, freaky, I noticed yours the first day we met,” he said with a laugh. “As I was saying, since we are marked for each other, when we touch our powers become stronger and join together. The magic flows through us as though we are one body and we are infinitely stronger.”

  She sat thinking for a minute, trying to absorb what he had told her. “Does everyone have a match out there?”

  “Usually no, but in strong magical families it can happen more than once. I wouldn’t be surprised if your parents or grandparents were marked for each other.”

  “Is it normal for your kind to have magic?”

  “No. As far as I know, only myself, Nikolai, and Katya possess magic. I don’t know why we are the only ones though; there are still a lot of mysteries about my kind that I need to solve.”

  Jilly had no more questions to ask, so she leaned into William and watched the flames dance in the fireplace for a while. She had a sudden thought and turned her head toward him. “Do you think Patrick and Mary were marked for each other?”

  “It’s possible they were, but I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure. It would certainly explain her behavior toward him and her fierceness in trying to protect him from her family.

  “It’s getting late. We should get to bed; we have all week to explore this new bond.”

  He walked her upstairs to her room and kissed her goodnight at her door.

  Chapter 7

  Caroline fell asleep as soon as she went upstairs; the day’s events had taken a toll. She dreamt of Jack, when they first met. She had just moved to New York, and was sitting in the park enjoying the sun and watching the people pass her by. Jack had sat down on the next bench with a cup of coffee and the paper, and he had spilled his coffee all over himself. Caroline had immediately jumped up and helped him. He’d said he knew right away she wasn’t from New York when she helped him.

  Her dream took her through their early days as a couple, when love was blooming in her heart. She saw when he proposed to her after they had been dating for a year, and she saw her wedding. Her dad walking her down the aisle, and Jilly sitting in the front row, wearing a sad smile. She saw all of the happy moments in their marriage, all of the birthdays and vacations.

  Finally, she saw Jack, but it wasn’t her he was kissing; it was a petite blond. He looked at her adoringly. Tears streamed down Caroline’s cheeks as she watched them. Finally, she saw the final scene in her marriage; when she confronted Jack. She saw the hurt etched onto her face as she read the emails. She heard the words they said to each other, and she saw him leave, tears in his eyes.

  The dream changed then. Everything was dark, but she heard a voice. The voice was vaguely familiar. It told her that Jack didn’t deserve her; she belonged with someone more like herself. “We need each other, Caroline.” She got a vague impression of a handsome face with bright blue eyes, and then everything went dark.

  *

  Jilly was exhausted, her whole body was tired, and she fell asleep quickly. Liza was standing in front of her in an unfamiliar room when she opened her eyes. She smiled at her as she spoke, but Jilly could see the seriousness in her eyes.

  “You need to be wary of Sabine. She is not acting alone. There is another whose power is great. Be careful, my child, and trust in yourself. Your power is strong and will see you through. Unite yourself with William, for together you cannot fail.”

  “How do you know all of this?”

  “The dead see all, Jillian.”

  Everything in the room shifted and Jilly was suddenly outside in the dark. She saw Sabine by the mouth of a cave, speaking to someone that she couldn’t see.

  “I’m trying to do as you wish, but the girl is being difficult. If I bring her to you, then William is mine; that was our deal.” There was a muffled sound like talking, but it was too low for Jilly to hear.

  A second later, Sabine shrank away in fear. “Yes, I will deliver her to you tomorrow, I promise.”

  Everything shifted back, and Jilly was once again facing Liza.

  “I cannot tell you where they are, for I do not know; only that they are by the water in a cave. Remember, trust in yourself, and in William and you cannot fail.” She pressed a kiss to her cheek and everything went black.

  Jilly woke up in a cold sweat, and went into the bathroom to splash some water on her face. When she returned to her room, William was sitting on her bed. She let out a little shriek of surprise and covered her mouth quickly.

  “What are you doing in here? You scared me to death!”

  “I think I know where Sabine might be, or at least I have a general idea.”

  “I know too; Liza told me in a dream. She’s somewhere by the water, and she’s not acting alone.”

  “Apparently we both had a visit from Liza,” William said dryly, an unreadable expression on his face. “I don’t have any idea who this other person is though, and I don’t like the idea of meeting whoever they are blindly.”

  “Me neither, but I’m not sure we have much of a choice. I think we should memorize that spell before we go just in case. Did she show you Sabine’s conversation with the mystery person?”

  “No, she just gave me a clue as to their whereabouts. What did they say?”

  “I only heard Sabine’s side of it. Whoever this is wants Sabine to deliver me to them, and then Sabine gets you as a reward. And Sabine is very afraid of them; she was very quick to acquiesce to their commands.”

  “Well, that’s interesting. I’ve never seen Sabine afraid of anything.”

  “So you’re not nervous about Sabine claiming you as her reward?”

  “Of course not,” William said, laughing. “I can t
ake care of myself; I got away from her before, didn’t I? Let’s just concentrate on keeping you out of our mystery person’s clutches.”

  “What was it like for you, seeing Liza?”

  William’s smile shifted a bit. “Weird. She looked the same, but her eyes were so sad. I almost felt guilty for being happy for finding you. She told me not to feel sad for her; she knew that our love was never meant to be. She’d known all along that I was meant for you; she had the ability to see into the future, and she saw you shortly after she and I began to court. She told me that she was sorry she hadn’t told me, that she never would have married me knowing what she did. But she had loved me, and could be happy that I was finally complete.” He got up and headed to the door. “Get some rest,” he said as he walked towards the door, a touch of sadness in his eyes.

  “William, wait,” Jilly said as she got out of bed and walked to him. “I don’t want you to go.” Her voice was thick with emotion.

  He looked at her. She could almost see the internal war he was having with himself. “Jilly, I want to stay, but I don’t want to regret tonight in the morning.”

  She smiled. “Screw regret, and screw the morning. We don’t have to do anything; I just need you near me.” She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. She felt his hands move to her hips, pulling her into him. She grabbed his shirt, and pulled it over his head, wanting to feel his skin beneath her fingers.

  After a few minutes, William took a step back, both of them breathless. “I’ll stay, but that’s as far as we’re going tonight.”

  Jilly nodded and got back into bed, moving over to make room for him. She fell asleep wrapped in his arms.

  *

  Jilly woke up feeling blissfully happy. She was still wrapped securely in William’s arms, so she nuzzled in closer to him. She smiled when she felt him tighten his arms and kiss her neck.

  “Good morning. How did you sleep?” William asked her as he rolled onto his back.

  Jilly flipped onto her stomach so she could look at him while they talked. “That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time. No night time visits from Sabine.”

  William frowned. “Have you had more?”

  Jilly nodded, her cheeks flushing at the memory. “Um, yeah. Sabine showed me another of her memories.” He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish the thought. “I don’t really want to talk about it,” she said, feeling embarrassed. She had enjoyed the feel of his lips and hands on her skin, and she didn’t really want to discuss his involvement with Sabine at the moment.

  William sighed. “Just tell me. It can’t be that bad.”

  “I think Sabine’s been trying to prove a point. She says that you are hers. She showed me a rather intimate moment between the two of you.”

  Jilly’s cheeks turned a shade of pink William had never seen before, and he grimaced slightly. “I’m so sorry, Jilly, I hate that she’s getting to you this way.” Jilly nodded and looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment. William studied Jilly’s reaction for a moment. “There’s more to this, isn’t there?”

  She nodded. “I was her in the dream,” she whispered.

  William’s face drained of color, fury in his eyes. “She has no right to do this.” His voice was cold and angry.

  “It’s ok William, it’s not a big deal. Besides, this is what she wants; she wants us to be upset about it. Let’s use this anger to fight her when the time comes.”

  William nodded and sat up, pulling her onto his lap. The fierceness of his kiss surprised Jilly, but she decided to just go with it. She pressed herself against his hard chest and devoured his mouth with her own. He yanked her shirt over her head and kissed down the column of her neck to her collarbone. She felt his teeth scrape against her skin and moaned into his hair. His hands were everywhere. Her skin burned at his touch; every part of her felt alive. She pulled his face back up to hers and kissed him again.

  They heard a knock at the door, and Caroline’s voice asking to come in. Both of them groaned and frantically put on the clothing they had just shed.

  “You can come on in, Car,” Jilly called as they lay back against the pillows, both a little flushed but none worse for the wear.

  Caroline swept in, and a smile spread across her face when she took in her sister’s disheveled appearance. “Am I interrupting?” she asked innocently.

  “No, we just woke up. William slept in here last night. We both had dreams from Liza and we fell asleep after talking about them.”

  Caroline nodded and shot a knowing look at Jilly, “I was just headed down to make some breakfast and wanted to know what you wanted.”

  Jilly looked at William. “Whatever you want to make will be fine,” she said, and William nodded.

  Caroline chuckled and headed down to the kitchen, leaving Jilly and William once again alone.

  The moment had passed and they both knew it, so they got up and made the bed, laughing the entire time like they had been caught ditching school.

  William leaned in and kissed Jilly. “I’m going to get a shower. I’ll meet you downstairs in a bit,” he said before leaving. Jilly smiled and headed into her own bathroom to do the same thing.

  Jilly and William emerged from their rooms at the same time, and headed down to the kitchen together giggling like children. Caroline looked up from the griddle with a smile on her face when she heard them. “Eggs, pancakes, bacon, and hash browns for breakfast. Grab a plate and I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

  Jilly went to grab a few plates out of the cupboard and accidentally bumped into William, who was doing the same thing. She blushed. “Sorry,” she said with a smile.

  “Why don’t you get the plates and I’ll get the coffee?” he said, and planted a kiss on her lips before making his way over to the coffee pot.

  Caroline arched a brow and winked at her sister before returning to her task.

  Five minutes later, everyone was seated and enjoying their food. “What are your plans today?” Caroline asked her sister between bites.

  “I don’t really know. We’ve done everything we can do for know,” Jilly replied. She looked at William to see if he had anything to add.

  “I think we should have a movie day,” he said, and both girls grinned at him.

  “It’s a good way to take our minds off of things for now, that’s for sure,” Jilly said.

  “What should we watch?” Caroline asked as she put her plate into the dishwasher.

  “You ladies can pick, as long as at least one of them has some action in it,” William said as he pushed his chair away from the table.

  The girls ran into the living room to look for something to watch, and William did the dishes. Fifteen minutes later, they came back into the kitchen holding a stack of DVDs. They decided on watching the Jason Bourne movies and Sherlock Holmes. Everyone went to their rooms to change back into pajamas.

  Jilly and William were curled up on the big sofa in front of the fireplace, and Caroline was on the love seat. They had finished the Bourne movies, and were almost done with Sherlock Holmes. William’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked it and excused himself to take the call. Jilly was anxious the entire time he was gone.

  She looked at him expectantly when he came back. He chuckled when he saw her face. “Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong. That was my friend Nikolai. He asked if I wanted him to come and help with the Sabine situation.”

  “What did you say?” Jilly asked.

  “I told him I’d let him know. But honestly, Jilly, I think we’ll be ok. It’s nice knowing we’ve got help if we need it though.”

  “I think you should let him come, William. I know you aren’t worried, but I am. The more people we have on our side, the happier I’ll be.”

  William pulled Jilly into a hug, smoothing her hair down as he spoke. “I’ll tell him to come then. Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.” He took out his phone and punched in Nikolai’s number. “Nik, Jilly would like it if you
and Kat came.” He laughed at something Nikolai said, and after a few more instructions he hung up. “There now, do you feel better?”

  Jilly smiled sheepishly and nodded.

  “Um, can we finish the movie now guys?” Caroline asked.

  Jilly and William laughed. “Sorry, Car,” Jilly said as she turned the movie back on.

  After the movie was done, Caroline went up to bed, but Jilly and William stayed down by the fire. “You look so beautiful in the firelight, Jilly,” William said softly. She blushed and turned her face away, feeling embarrassed. He turned her chin back and looked into her eyes. “Don’t be embarrassed by the truth. I will never lie to you.” He kissed her softly, running his hands through her hair. She shivered involuntarily and melted into his arms.

  After a few minutes, they turned and looked into the fire. “Tell me about Nikolai,” Jilly said as she got comfortable against the pillows.

  William smiled. “Nik is my best friend. I’ve known him for one hundred and fifty years. I met him soon after I left Sabine. He and his wife Katya took me in when they realized what I was. As I said before, they are marked as well. Katya may be able to help you understand everything a little better than I have. Nik is probably the nicest person you’ll ever meet. He’s the kind of man that would give you the shirt off his back in a blizzard if you said you were cold.”