The Craft of the Wise 4: Healing Hearts

by Dee Carney

  Too much for her to take. Too much for her heart to take.

  She looked into his face, searched his eyes for the emotion always on display for her. “Love me, Devin.”

  A frown creased his face. “Always, Selena.”

  “Now. I need you to love me right now.” For the last time, love me.

  How she’d managed to fall so hard and fast for him, she’d never know. Their relationship was one great big whirlwind of highs and lows, love and fear, trust and faith. One thing she was sure of. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  A few minutes later when he was inside of her, she let the tears flow. He kissed them away almost as quickly as they fell, but she couldn’t stop crying. The comforting weight of him, the murmured whispers of love, the joy he spread over her couldn’t keep the same thought from echoing over and over in her mind.

  For the last time.

  Love me.

  * * * *

  Ignoring the scratchy, cowled robe against her bare skin, she paced the clearing in the back of Ava’s house, part-chanting, part-praying to the Lord and Lady above for guidance. Always, their will be done, but for the first time since practicing the Craft, she prayed their wills coincided with hers.

  She could do this. She could. Healing was what she did. Just because this time she needed to heal the sky shouldn’t matter. Concentrate on healing and everything would fold into place. Her gift came naturally to her, as familiar as breathing.

  Then why did this knot in her stomach refuse to go away?

  She looked up to find Devin watching her. He stood at the edge of the clearing, arms folded over his chest, his legs rooted to the ground. Aaron didn’t bother with the guard entourage this time. As Devin loved to taunt his brother, they only served to fuel his creativity, not hamper his movements.

  He knew the risks as well as she did now. And she almost wanted to despise him for taking the finality of her message so well. He just shrugged away the fact she held his life in her hands. It’s where you hold my heart, love.

  Mayda’s approach cleared her thoughts of him. “You’re ready, I’m sure?” she asked. Her blue eyes held the concern of a mother for her fledgling child. She was dressed in ceremonial garb, the silken robe draped over her shoulders a stark contrast to the one Selena wore. Then again, the spells they would be casting were as different as night and day.

  Selena nodded. “I don’t think I’ve been involved in something so complex before.”

  First Selena would cast her spells, one to heal Devin and then one to heal the rift. Then Liana and Mayda had to follow with simultaneous spells. Liana’s task was to transport demons in this realm to their own world while Mayda would confer the power of the coven to Ava, who would finally close off the way to the demon realm. And in between all of that, they had to pray Dina didn’t discover the workings and try to stop them.

  Goddess above.

  “Will you able to do it? If you can’t, say so now before we rain down the fury of every demon in their realm upon us.”

  “I—”

  “Will you be able to let Devin go if you can’t heal him, Selena? Before we start, know for sure. You have to know first.”

  She clenched her eyes shut against the pain ripping its way through her chest. He’d acknowledged his blind faith in her. They had no real way of knowing if her spells would work, but he’d been confident she knew what she was doing. If she could heal a rift, he’d reasoned, surely removing a curse would be child’s play?

  Keeping her face down, she responded, “The sun is setting, High Priestess. We should begin.”

  The heat of Mayda’s stare stayed with her until the older woman turned away and walked to the rest of the coven who waited on her. Werewolves lined the very outside of the clearing, standing guard over the witches. Once the spell casting began, Dina would be able to hone in on their positions with unfailing accuracy. If the spells didn’t work as predicted, there would be the devil, almost literally, to pay. At least the guards provided a small sense of security.

  With a final glance at Devin, she walked to the center and loosened the sash of the robe. She shrugged the rough material from her shoulders and it fell to the ground in a heap. The cool night air caressed her naked skin with the gentleness of a lover. A gentle breeze licked her intimate places, arousing and titillating every nerve ending.

  He’d been livid when she’d told Devin about spell casting skyclad. But she wanted every edge she could muster to make this work. If appearing before the gods in the nude helped, so be it.

  Standing next to the small altar of tools, she began. “In the name of the Goddess and God who breathe life into us all, I consecrate and charge this circle as a magical place for healing,” she said, her voice low. She gestured to Devin. With her prompting, he entered the circle until he stood in front of her. “I light this candle that represents your child Devin, and all that he is. Being natural. Being unnatural.”

  She walked to the remaining candles surrounding them, lighting each in turn and dedicating each to the five elements of air, wind, fire, earth and spirit. When she stood before the last unlit candle, she drew within herself all of the healing magic of the universe. Her body felt alive with life, with familiar healing power. With each passing second, her confidence with the spell grew.

  A green sash had been laid near the candles. She began to weave it around each candle in turn, carefully creating a pentagram, and said, “Elements of power, heal your child now, in his desperate hour, so mote it be.”

  The light flared until its glow covered Devin like a blanket. A grin split her face, the force actually enough to make her cheeks hurt. She couldn’t stop the smile even if she wanted to. It worked! Already the red handprint of the demon began to fade.

  Without stopping to test their good fortune, she cast a similar spell, this time focusing on the sky above. Behind her, Liana entered the circle and began chanting. Together their voices created a harmonic melody. By the time Selena’s last spell ended, she wanted to collapse. Her spine and legs felt boneless, barely able to support her any longer. The spells drained her, but had been oh, so worth it.

  She knelt with the intention of picking up the robe when she noticed Devin’s posture. He was doubled-over, his arms wrapped around his waist. Her eyebrows knit together as she assessed him. The spell shouldn’t have caused him any sort of pain.

  “Devin?”

  Mayda stepped inside the circle, her voice joining Liana’s. Only a few more phrases to complete before Liana would banish all demons back to their realm.

  The robe forgotten, Selena took a hesitant step to him. “Devin?”

  She froze at the sound of his soft groan. When he looked up, the first thing she noticed was the sweat streaming down his reddened face.

  The next thing she noticed was the too familiar swirl in his eyes.

  “Oh, Goddess, no!”

  She ran to where he hunched over. Her hands hovered inches above his face, not sure how to touch him, how to stop this from happening. She searched her mind for something—anything—that would keep him here. They had mere seconds before Liana finished her spell and the incantation took him to the demon realm forever.

  A new well of tears made seeing him difficult. She wiped at her eyes with the back of an impatient hand. “Please, Devin, stay with me. Fight it and stay with me!”

  Orange to yellow now. So close. The change was so close.

  She looked over when an angry growl sounded next to her. Unable to spare the emotion, she didn’t focus on the shock of seeing Aaron in the circle. His commands to his brother explained more than she needed to know.

  “Stay with us, brother.” He grabbed Devin’s arm, his fingers digging into the flesh. Pools of white marked where Aaron’s grip stopped the circulation of blood. “I will not lose you to that place. Stay with me.”

  The only thing she could think to do was start the spell over. As fast as she could speak, her words running into each other, she recited the incantation. She gra
bbed on to Devin’s other arm, willing him to stay with them. “Elements of power. Heal your child now!”

  Devin threw his head back and howled a sound so mournful, so full of regret, a new well of tears filled her eyes. Aaron joined in, his howl as rich and deep as his brother’s.

  Around them, the other werewolves, one by one, picked up the howl. Soon a cacophony of growls, yips and howls filled the air, overriding the soft, gentle chanting of the witches.

  He lowered his head, his gaze finding hers. Red swirled with black, pain and disappointment mingling with each other. Selena dropped his hand and threw her arms around his neck, bruising his mouth with a kiss of desperation. Aaron’s crushing embrace circled them both, pinning her against Devin as the breath rushed out of her.

  “D-don’t go, brother,” he choked out.

  Devin’s legs collapsed beneath him, taking her and Aaron down to the ground. The jarring impact almost dislodged her from his hold, but she would not be rid of so easily. It would take more than that to make her let him go.

  Time slowed to a crawl as she stared into his eyes. More and more of the crimson color she’d come to hate filled them, the natural blackness retreating like a thief in the night. She looked into the changing color one last time, memorizing the details of lines on his face, the smell and feel of him. Dislodging the lump in her throat, she held on to a last tendril of hope and said the only thing she could think of.

  “I love you, Devin.”

  His eyes slipped closed for a microsecond, a blink she almost didn’t notice. When he opened them again, his eyes were tinted with one color. Red.

  “Witch,” he sighed.

  His body went limp in her arms at the same time Ava’s voice behind them finished the last line of her spell: so mote it be.

  Selena screamed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Selena folded the last of her clothes and placed them inside the small bag. She’d led a simple life before circumstances forced her to camp out in Ava’s home. Now that she would return to her own apartment, a not-so-simple life awaited her. She’d learned a lot about herself over the last few days. A lot about love. Now she needed to take the lessons home and deal with them.

  “You don’t have to leave, you know. I’m so used to this house being crowded with bodies, I don’t know what I’ll do when it’s empty again.” Ava watched her pack, concern written all over her face. She looked ready to protest each item that made its way into the bag, but caught herself each time.

  Selena smiled. “It’ll be far from empty. You have Aaron. And the other mated couples will be staying, too. With both of you leading your respective groups, the last thing this place will be is quiet.” She glanced towards the backyard even with the sheer curtains blocking the view. “Besides, you don’t need a healer here full-time. I’ll be around when you need me.”

  “You’re still a part of this coven, right?”

  “Of course, High Priestess.”

  Ava grimaced. “I can’t get used to that. Grand will always be High Priestess as far as I’m concerned. Whenever someone calls me HP, I look around for her.”

  “You’ll get used to having privacy again. You and Aaron both.”

  “Some days I wish I didn’t have to. It would be nice if Aaron could just be my mate and not my protector all the time.”

  “He loves you.”

  “I know. I love him.”

  They fell into a companionable silence as she finished folding the last two items and storing them away. Before she picked up the bag, she looked at Ava again. “You realize Dina is still out there. That you’re not safe? You need his protection and the protection of his pack.”

  She exhaled audibly. “She might be in the demon realm.”

  “And she might not be, High Priestess. Besides, even if she is there and if there is any chance of her coming back over here…”

  “Yeah, I know. Dina will be the one to find a way back. I’m not safe. I get it.”

  “Just take care of yourself.”

  Ava reached for her hand and squeezed gently. “You, too.” This time Ava looked towards the window. “Are you sure? Are you sure you won’t stay?”

  Selena looked toward the window too. “Never surer in my life, High Priestess. Thank you.”

  Ava dipped her chin as she let go of Selena’s hand. No need for goodbyes. They would see each other again and often. Coven gatherings necessitated frequent contact.

  She hoisted the bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room. As she made her way downstairs, she had to agree with Ava. The house did seem quiet now. The past month was like a bad dream. She couldn’t focus on the past, though. The future was too close, too full of promise and waiting for her with open arms.

  At the threshold of the backyard, she stopped in the doorway to breathe in the air. Sunlight cascaded over everything, again reminding her of the beauty of life. Summer would be here soon enough and the same sunlight dishing out sweltering heat in spades, but for now, the weather was meant to be enjoyed.

  His larger-than-life presence filled the doorway behind her. Without thinking, she tilted her head for the kiss he would inevitably press to her neck. When his warm lips traveled over the sensitive skin, she suppressed a small shiver of delight.

  “Ready?” he murmured.

  She turned and wrinkled her nose at the dark shades he wore. “I don’t think I’ll get used to seeing you in those things.”

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “Perhaps, but I don’t think the rest of the world will ever get used to the color of my eyes, either.”

  True. Still, it was a small price to pay to have him here.

  The best they could figure was her spell wasn’t specific enough. Her spell didn’t heal him of what they considered to be wrong with him. They may not have appreciated his demon self, but it was a natural part of the order of things. Not meant to be healed, per se.

  What the spell did do was extinguish the uncertainty of his change. The red claw mark on his neck vanished, but his red eyes were here to stay. The demon in him brought to the forefront and mingled with the werewolf. The resultant change was so sudden and fierce, he’d passed out from the brutality of the changes.

  A new breed of warrior. Just as Dina had predicted and wanted.

  “Maybe I’ll get contacts soon.”

  “Oh?” She quirked an eyebrow at him. “And what of your sons? What would you have them do?”

  A pained look crossed his face. “Are you sure, love? Are you sure you want to start a family with me? With what I’ve become?”

  “And how many times, my love, must I tell you? What you are is not who you are. I am in love with who you are. I look forward to the day when I tell you I’m pregnant with your child.”

  He studied her face and she bared his scrutiny without comment. Her heart thudded in her chest but she remained patient. She knew him too well now. After a minute passed, he smiled and shook his head. “I love you, witch.”

  “And I, you, Devin.”

  Reaching down for her bag, he picked it up and glanced at her over his shoulder. “And when would you like to start working on making this family of ours?”

  The smile on her face grew even wider. “How quickly can you get us home?”

  So mote it be…

  About the Author

  Dee Carney is the author of several erotic romance novellas, including the Craft of the Wise series with Phaze Books. Visit www.DeeCarney.com for more information on her available titles.