by A. N. Sage
“It seems you’ve been keeping secrets,” she hissed.
Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!
“Language,” Sebyl warned and my cheeks blushed. Of course, I said that out loud. Of course.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
My head was spinning and I tried to figure out how much she knew. Had she felt me using magic just now and if she did, how pissed was she?
Sebyl curled a finger to gesture me toward her and I hesitated before moving closer. I have known this woman my entire life and I still feared her wrath. Sebyl was by far the most powerful witch I’ve met and the fact that she was a high priestess only added to my fear. I tried my best to stay on her good side but sometimes, there was no telling which side you were on with Sebyl. Judging by the look on her face as she glared at me, I’d have to wager I was on the wrong one.
“When were you planning on letting us know about the students?” Sebyl asked sternly. Her index finger twirled a loose strand of my hair like a cat playing with a string. “Important information for the coven to have, wouldn’t you agree?”
I nodded. “Yes, I’m sorry. I was going to tell you, I swear! I was just waiting for the right time.”
Sebyl’s finger dropped from my hair like it burnt her. “No time better than the present.”
I nodded again and took a small step back in case she smote me with her magic.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to understand it so I had something more concrete to tell you.”
“And what do you have to tell me?”
I bit my lower lip and swallowed. “That students are being killed and it involves magic?”
“We already know that, child,” Sebyl hissed. “What have you been able to find out?”
“Uh, well…” I choked out. “Just that whoever the witch is that’s responsible is powerful. Like crazy powerful. The students were all drained of their energy so I know she’s taking their life force but I don’t know why. Oh, and there was another shadower attack, but I handled it.”
Blood rushed to my neck and I rubbed at my chest with my trembling fingers. There was no point telling her about the cops, at least not yet; Sebyl was pissed as it is and I didn’t want to get into more trouble. I had the distinct feeling that wherever they shipped me off to next wouldn’t be as luxurious as the Chandlers’ place.
“Have you tried scrying for her?”
“I have.”
“And?”
“Nothing. She blocked her magic from me, I can’t get through.”
“Interesting…”
Sebyl shifted her weight in her four-inch lilac-colored heels and looked past me. Her gaze lightened and I felt my shoulders drop in relief.
“There’s something else,” I said and gnawed on my lip again. “I found some information that leads to a fae bloodline in this town. Several of them. I think the students were all of fae decent.”
“Impossible!” The high priestess screeched. “The fae are extinct!”
The growl in her voice stopped me dead. Why was she this upset about it? Knowing the fae may have survived whatever drove them from Earth was a good thing. Fae strengthened the Earth’s elements and we needed that to feed our magic. This is excellent news, right? Was I missing something here?
“What if they’re not, priestess? Wouldn’t that be something to look into?” I asked. “If fae bloodlines survived, we could use that to our advantage. We can get stronger!”
Sebyl shook her head and lowered her gaze to the floor. “How much do you know of the fae, Wilhemina?”
“Literally nothing,” I snapped back.
It was the truth. Much like everyone else in the coven, I knew very little of the beings. There was nothing in any of the texts in the coven’s library and what there was spoke of the fae as more of a fairytale than something real and concrete. Mostly, and as far as the witches were concerned, the fae were extinct or a complete myth. When I was a kid, I always wanted to meet them. If the tales were true, the fae were the strongest magical beings on the planet and their connection to the elements was out of this world. Unlike witches, the fae didn’t need to have hold of an element to wield their magic; they were in tune with it. Like the five elements, there were five fae lines, each one holding a stronger hold on the element they were a part of. They were powerful and strong and I knew nothing about them at all. What a piss off.
“Yes. Most modern witches do not. And with reason.”
“But what reason? Why can’t we know more?”
“The fae,” Sebyl started, “were not a kind race. They were power-hungry and arrogant and if they were still around, it would only be a matter of time before the humans found out. The fae dislike keeping their magic hidden.”
My eyes narrowed. Why did she use the word “like” in the present tense?
“But their magic helps the elements be strong, and we need the elements.”
Sebyl grimaced. “While that is true, they are much too unpredictable to be useful.”
Present tense again…
“The fae may have taught us their ways and created our kind but they were never our saviors.”
“Wait, what?” My eyes widened. “The fae made us?”
“Taught,” Sebyl corrected. “They taught us how to use the elements of the earth to wield magic. We were never made by anyone, no human was.”
Stars glimmered in my vision and my knees buckled. “Hold on one second, you’re telling me that witches were just regular humans?”
“Upon a time, yes.”
“How is that even possible?”
“Wilhemina, darling, you of all people should know that everything is in this world is possible,” Sebyl whispered. “The original witches were humans taken under the wing of the first fae. They were taught the ways of magic, pushed to their limits until they could wield it themselves but only with the help of the elements. I doubt the fae would have it any other way, they love control a little too aggressively.”
I shook my head. “Does that mean I’m human too? And you?”
“Not anymore, I’m afraid.” Sebyl sighed and closed the distance between us. “Magic has a funny way of seeping in and taking hold, it shapes you until you are nothing but its vessel. Over time, the first witches paired off with others of their like, and their children were born with magic already in their blood. The circle of life and all. As the stories go, and it is up to you whether you choose to believe them, the fae created our kind to further their hold on Earth’s elements. But power is power and it wasn’t long before witches wanted to free themselves of the dependency they developed on their teachers. They severed ties with the fae and lived life to the fullest. Right here in Shadowhurst, in fact. Soon, our kind grew confident in their magic and humans began to take notice. The repercussions were dire and many of our kind were destroyed in the process.”
What. The. Shit. How was this not regular knowledge in the coven? My head hurt just thinking about it.
“What happened to the ones that survived?” I asked, still pissed this was the first I was hearing about such an integral part of our history.
“They fled to Stamwick which is exactly how the High Coven came into existence. The witches banded together, forming a society that had to stay hidden from the human eye. Unfortunately, without the interference of the fae, our magic seeped out and well, you already know about the outcome of that horrid affair.”
“The shadowers,” I whispered. “So that’s why we vanquish them?”
“Precisely,” Sebyl noted. “The shadowers are foolish and short-sighted. Their hunger for energy and the kill overpowers their rational thinking and if we don’t stop them, the humans will take notice again. We simply cannot afford that. Our kind has worked too hard to get where we are and nothing can risk our safety.”
“But why not teach this freely in the coven?”
“Who said we do not?” She arched an eyebrow and grinned. “Every witch that reaches a higher status in the High Coven is introduced to the full history. Once we are c
ertain her loyalty to the coven is greater than her need for magic and power. We cannot have a repeat of the past on our hands.”
I guess that makes sense. Still pretty shit though. “So why send me here?”
“Wilhemina,” Sebyl said, “We have an innate trust in you and your abilities. Sending you here was not simply a punishment for what you did. I hope you understand that any other witch in that position would have been imprisoned without any questions asked. We have hopes for you and your future in the coven. I have hopes for you. We chose Shadowhurst as a test, to see how you react in certain situations.”
“And?” I asked. “How am doing so far?”
Sebyl’s eyes pierced mine. “Surprisingly well.”
Okay, my mind was officially blown. This was crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I was extremely proud of the fact that the High Coven trusted me enough not to just lock my ass up next to Beatrix but all the lies and secrets did not sit well with me. Our history was so much darker than I knew and I didn’t understand why it wouldn’t be public knowledge. It seemed too important to keep quiet so why did I not know about this before? And what else was the coven keeping from me and the rest of the witches?
“Was there anything else?” Sebyl asked.
My lips drew into a line and I averted my eyes from her. I should tell her about the hunters and River. I should, right? RIGHT? But I couldn’t. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to betray him, not yet. And not when I wasn’t sure if I could trust Sebyl not to blow up the entire town just to get to the hunters. “That’s all I got so far. But I’m getting close to finding out the names of the hunters,” I lied.
I could give her that much at least.
“Excellent work, Wilhemina.”
“So what should I do now?”
Sebyl’s fingers curled and she grabbed hold of my chin to bring my eyes to hers. “You follow the blood,” she whispered. “And if I find you’re keeping things from the coven again, there will be consequences.”
With that, the high priestess stormed from the living room and slammed the front door behind her. My lungs collapsed and I hit the rug with my knees, holding my chest and fighting for air. I just lied to the high priestess. What the hell was I thinking? But I knew what I was thinking; I was thinking that I couldn’t trust anyone. Every door I opened led to more secrets and even more questions. And I was trapped in the middle of it all. All the secrets led straight back to me and I hated it. I hated lying and I hated hiding things—from Sebyl, from the coven, from River. I was lying to all of them and eventually, those lies would catch up with me.
I had to ease some tension. I had to do something before the guilt ate me alive. If not for any other reason than to get my head back in the game; there was no way I would find this killer witch if I preoccupied my mind with keeping my lies straight. I was tired of keeping secrets and living in darkness and I knew that if I kept this up any longer, that darkness would swallow me whole. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t be what the High Coven wanted me to be. I couldn’t continue playing the part of a witch in the shadows; not when there was an entire world out there waiting to be explored.
There was only one thing I could do and my body shook just from thinking about it. I had to let some lies go. Someone had to know about who I truly was and it had to be someone I trusted.
I pulled out my phone and typed out a message. We need to talk. I’ll come to you.
Relief washed over me as soon as my fingers pressed ‘send’ and I sunk back on the floor, my back resting on the couch’s leather. I was about to break the coven’s number one rule and I didn’t care. If they had their secrets from me, I was sure as hell going to repay the favor.
The Weirdest Thing That Ever Happened
“You’re a WHAT?” Peyton screeched so loud I had to cover my ears.
I had just finished telling her everything, well, almost everything, and she took it surprisingly well. If you don’t count her saucer-sized eyes and open mouth the entire time I was speaking. But I had to admit, as soon as I told my best friend I was a witch, I felt a million times better.
“A witch,” I said, “and please stop screaming.”
Peyton paced the long width of her room for the trillionth time and shrugged. “Sorry, this is like, mind-blowing news.”
“I guess…”
“You guess? B, this is huge! You sure you’re not just screwing with me?”
“Pretty sure.” I rolled my eyes. “So you got anything else to say except the yelling?”
My friend scoffed and ran to the small table tucked in the corner of her room to rummage through the stack of books atop it. While she searched for whatever it was her crazy mind locked on, I scanned her bedroom. For someone who hated the trust-funders or anyone else with money, Peyton sure didn’t live like a squatter. Her bedroom was twice the size of the one I had in the guest house; with exposed barn slabs across the ceiling and wall-to-wall windows to match. The rest of her house was no different and I could tell as soon as I walked in that whatever business her father was in, he was doing well for himself. But somehow, I didn’t feel uncomfortable in their house; at least not as much as I did at Rivers. Though I had a feeling that had a lot to do with the decor of the bedroom I now sat in which was done in typical Peyton style and the fact that there were no witch hunters in sight.
The bed was a canopy bed—much like mine—but instead of the exposed wood frame, Peyton had hers covered in twinkle lights and a sheer purple gauze that draped over the sides. The bedding was multi-colored and there were so many cushions on top of her skull-printed duvet that I wondered how she had enough space to sleep in there. On either side of the bed stood two small tables, both a bright purple with hand-painted black flowers lining the legs. Across from the bed sat a comfy, black sofa that I now perched in, and next to it was a giant statue of a giraffe with Peyton’s clothes draped over its neck. The room was a mess and I loved it!
“Yo, you done in there?” I asked just as Peyton tossed a book in my lap.
She flipped through the pages and pointed to a drawing of a cartoon witch pointing her wand at an angry-looking man. In the box next to it, the same witch was drawn smiling and the man next to her was now a nasty, looking rat. Above the drawing, the words “Smite Your Enemies” were sketched in.
“Can you do that?” Peyton asked, wide-eyed.
I laughed and closed the book with a thud. “Not exactly how it works.”
“How does it work? Tell me EVERYTHING!”
My brow furrowed and I rearranged my legs to fit under me. I’ve never had to explain magic before and I wasn’t even sure if I knew how it worked.
“Um, well,” I started, “it’s weird.”
“Go on…”
“It’s like something that’s a part of you. Like the air in your lungs or the blood in your veins. It’s always there, just at the edges, but when I’m close to objects that have strong elemental power, my magic kind of sucks that in. Sometimes it’s only a little at a time and I can’t do much with it, but sometimes, when the elements are strong, I can use their power and it strengthens me.”
“What type of objects?” Peyton cocked an eyebrow. “Magical objects?”
“No, nothing like that,” I smirked. “More like natural things. Herbs, crystals, things you can find in nature. Like water and earth and fire and stuff. Elemental things.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.” Peyton nodded like she was taking notes in her head. “What else?”
“I don’t know. I guess when I’m upset or angry, the magic gets stronger because my emotions are so wild and it becomes easier to use it. Like if I’m pissed, all I have to do is hold a crystal and I can make shit happen.”
“Like what?”
“Lots of stuff,” I answered. “Water, fire, that kind of stuff. I can control the weather too but I have to have a lot of elemental pull to do that and it wipes me out. The more magic I use, the weaker I feel so it’s kind of a catch twenty-two.”
“So if
you use too much, you can what? Die?”
I chuckled. “Not die. You’re so extra! But I get wiped out and have to rest before I can use it again. Since it’s a part of me, when I get tired; it gets tired. And vice versa.”
Peyton was quiet for a long moment and stared at something past my shoulder. Her eyes were wide again and her breathing slowed so much I could barely see her chest move. I was scared I broke her when she spoke again. “Show me.”
“Show you what?”
“Magic.”
Cool air wrapped around me as Peyton ran to snatch something from her desk before jumping on the couch next to me. She held her hand out and nodded to the smokey quartz crystal resting in her palm. “Show me.”
Hesitantly, I reached for the crystal and sighed. No turning back now. My fingers curled around the crystal and my blood boiled. The familiar tingle of magic rushed over my skin and I tilted my head back to take a deep breath. In my mind, an image formed as clear as though I was looking at a photograph. My lips curled in satisfaction. Next to me, Peyton giggled in excitement as I squeezed my fist around the crystal before uncurling my fingers. She gasped.
In my hand, sprouting from the crystal’s center, was a beautiful white lily. Its petals fluttered as Peyton’s breath washed over them and she let out another excited giggle before yanking the crystal out of my hand. As soon as her hand touched it, the lily burst into a white powder and disappeared.
“What the hell?” My friend asked, her eyebrows kissing.
I shrugged. “You scared me so I dropped my hold on it.”
“B! That was so freaking cool!”
“You’re taking this all pretty well…” I said.
“Are you kidding?” Peyton screeched. “This is like the weirdest thing that ever happened to me!”
“Well, technically, it’s happening to me but okay.” I locked my eyes on hers. “So I didn’t freak you out?”