“Serena left town,” I continued the story. “This was probably when your mom was little.”
An emotion I hadn’t seen before flashed across Miranda’s face. Then I remembered that her parents had died when she was young and assumed it had something to do with that. The lack of memories when someone mentioned her mom.
“But there was a rede back then—”
“Rede?” she asked.
I took her hand in mine while I explained. “The rede among witches is sort of a moral guide. It’s more than a motto. Kind of a statement that we all live by.”
“Like the golden rule,” Miller offered.
“So treat people how you want to be treated?” she asked.
“Same kind of thing,” I told her. “But the witches rede would’ve prevented any actual witch from killing anyone else. So there were a lot of people who were accused of being witches who weren’t. And there were some who were actually executed. Then there were others who managed to escape any sentencing. Those were the people who helped reveal the truth.”
Miranda shook her head as if we were overwhelming her with information. Hell, maybe we were. I remembered what it was like to be new to all of this and having it sound like the craziest shit you’d ever heard. “So you’re saying the real witches mostly had to stand by and watch non-witches be executed for being witches?”
“Yes.” Miller and I said at the same time.
“That’s fucked up.”
“Yes.” Again, we said this as a duo.
He and I both chuckled quietly. Then I continued. “But when it was all over, the accusers moved far away to escape the stigmatism of what had happened. The same was true for the Mathers.”
“No way.” Her eyes widened and she dropped her hands from her chest. “You can’t mean that they’re relatives of Reverend Mathers…”
I chuckled. “Right. Just like you aren’t actual descended from Sarah Good.”
“Who is Sarah Good?” she asked.
“Damn,” Miller muttered. “They really didn’t tell you guys anything.”
“Wait.” She sat up straighter. “What’s that mean?”
Miller pointed at me. “My boy here also knew nothing of this world when he came to the coven.”
Her big blue eyes turned to me. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” I told her. “My mom had kept the craft from me just like your grandma did you.”
“So, Sarah Good?”
“She was one of the first women to be accused of being a witch and it started the Salem Witch Trials. She proclaimed her innocence to the end but she was hanged for it.”
“That’s awful,” she said quietly.
Miller leaned across the table with a little too much excitement on his face. “Want to know the best part?” She nodded but it was hesitant. There was nothing exciting about this unless you were Miller. “Even though she wouldn’t confess, when she was convicted, she yelled at the reverend who tried so hard to get her to confess… she yelled, I’m no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink.” He snickered as if this was the best part and it kind of was when the villain gets his just rewards. “Guess how the guy died?”
Her eyes widened into tiny saucers as she whispered, “How?”
“He choked on his own blood.” Miller sat back with a satisfied smile.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” I answered because he was taking too much glee in telling her this story. “Like twenty-five years later.”
“Still…” he said as he held his hands up.
“Wait.” Miranda slapped her hands against the table. “If she said that then he actually died the way she said, does that mean she actually was a witch?”
“Duh,” Miller told her.
“Miller,” I warned shaking my head. “Yes, Miranda, she was a witch. You’re descended from her and just for the record she was an incredibly powerful witch who passed that down to her children, Dorcus and Mercy.”
Her laugh choked in her throat. “Really? I’m descended from her?”
I nodded. “Yes. You are.”
Miranda’s chest puffed out slightly, the result of her famous heritage and knowing that she’d come from a long line of strong women.
“So what does this have to do with anything now?” she asked. “Nearly four hundred years later?”
“Old vendettas die hard, Miranda. When people lose their wealth, their reputation, and their home, they do some crazy shit… like vow revenge.”
Somehow. Someway. Someday. I didn’t have proof, exactly, but the fact that Reverend Mather and Serena Good had died on the same night… seemed suspect at the very least. We’d need to figure that out.
Her eyes flashed with realization. “So you think Reverend Mather killed my grandmother?”
I nodded hesitantly as Miller’s face grew more serious. “I do.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Miranda
I laid my hand on my arm, directly over the spot where Taylor had grabbed me as I thought about what Luken had said. Grandma and Reverend Mather had never gotten along exactly, but I’d never seen them have cross words once. Actually, they avoided each other like the plague.
Seemed weird to me that a centuries-old vow for revenge would bleed into today. But here we were. Both Miller and Luken seemed rather sure that they’d figured this out and this was the answer.
“What’s that?” Luken asked, his forehead scrunched up.
I shook my head in confusion. “What?”
He peeled my hand off the new splotch I hadn’t noticed.
“Oh,” I said. I knew what he was talking about as soon as he’d indicated a location.
“Is this from your run in with the Mather Twins?” he asked quietly.
“What run in?” Miller asked. “Did you hurt one of them?”
Immediately, my defenses went up. “She hurt me first. She touched me.” I scowled.
Luken slid closer so he could get a better look, I’d guess.
“Is this what you mentioned on the phone?”
I nodded.
“Tell us exactly what happened.”
I took a deep breath. Telling the two of them about how Taylor and Ashley could still get the best of me wasn’t on the top of my wish list right now. Had to do it because, while I was new to this whole thing, I understood almost none of it. Including how in the hell I’d burned Taylor with just my fingers. First, I bought myself some time but taking a long, slow drink from my glass of water.
A corner of Luken’s mouth turned up. He knew exactly what I was doing.
“I went to the diner to get the three of us breakfast,” I told him. “I almost never go in there because people suck but I did it anyway. It was fine. Everything was fine until the twins saw me and came over.”
“What’d they do?” Miller asked.
“Just… said some things. Accused my grandma of killing their dad. I told them that was crazy though now… is it? I have no idea.”
“And this mark?” Luken asked while gently probing the area with his fingers.
“Taylor just…” I pushed up from the table and began to pace the kitchen. “She made me so mad. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Do what?” Miller prodded.
I stopped and turned to the two of them still sitting at the table. “I didn’t do it on purpose. You two are here telling me I’m a witch and like an idiot I believe you. Though now I’m thinking it’s not me being an idiot.”
“Miranda,” Luken snapped kind of harshly. “Just tell us what happened.”
I had been rambling. “I could feel the anger building up and it made me… hot inside. Like I was on fire. The next thing I knew, Taylor snapped her hand back and it was burned. Like I’d burned her with my skin but that didn’t make any sense because clearly, I can’t burn people with my skin.” I glanced down at my arm. “And that mark is there because it was like while I scorched her, her hand burned me back.” I took
a deep breath and closed my eyes. “But her hand looked a lot worse.”
“Shit,” Miller said under his breath and gave Luken a pointed look.
Luken slid the chair out from under the table and stood up. The sound of the legs scraping the floor made me cringe. His face was tight and angry as he come over, stopping just in front of me.
“I need you to understand,” he said through clenched teeth. “You can’t do that. You can’t hurt other people.” Then he groaned and I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. “I wasn’t supposed to get this close to you Miranda.” His voice was low and his face less tense but he had to know Miller could still hear him. “Yet I can’t help it. But you hurting someone else goes against the rede. It borders on dark magic.”
“Come one man,” Miller piped in. “She didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Stay out of it, Miller.”
“Exactly.” I pointed at him and took a step away from Luken. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t even know how to do it on purpose. She was being nasty to me.”
“I’m sure she was,” he snapped. “That’s not the point. We have got to teach you some control because , Miranda, I’m in a white magic coven. Dark magic has no place there and if you turn to dark magic then this…” He waved his finger between us. “Can’t happen.”
“Then teach me,” I yelled, thrown my arms into the air helplessly. Then teach me instead of chastising me for something I couldn’t help. You came here. You changed my life. I’ve gotten no guidance so far on how to control this thing you say I have. You’ve spent more time having sex with me than explaining anything. Now you’re not even on my side when those bitches corner me in the diner?” Not all of that was exactly true but it sure felt like it.
“Calm down,” he told me.
“Do not tell me to calm down!” I yelled back. To me, I had ever right to feel the way I did. With anger building up inside me, having me feel the way I had at the diner, I knew I did actually need to calm down yet fuck him for saying it.
Luke came in closer, a calming feeling skittering over my skin like a loose hair in the breeze.
“Unless your life is in immediate danger, you can’t use magic to hurt someone. And honestly you shouldn’t use it until you’ve committed to white magic.”
“Oops,” Miller said under his breath.
“What?” I asked him. Then I turned back to Luken waiting for an explanation.
We sat there staring each other down. I couldn’t believe he was refusing to see this from my perspective. What was I supposed to do? Let people hurt me just so I don’t hurt them back? At the very least, he should’ve been on my side. He’d just told me that my grandmother had likely been murdered by their father.
Luken groaned. “I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
Miller shrugged. “Cat’s out of the bag now.”
“I was sent here by the council to ensure that you choose white magic. You’re powerful as fuck.” I snorted. “You are. You just don’t know how to control it yet. We can help with that. But if you tap into dark magic, even by accident, without your life being in danger, you can’t go back. I need you to be really careful.”
I turned away.
“Got it,” I muttered under my breath.
I moved away from the two of them, braced my hands on the edge of the sink and stared out the window. A vantage point that allowed me to see all the way to town. Hell, I could see all the way to the Mathers’ front door. I ran my fingernails over the smooth surface of the sink. I don’t know why I did it but then I turned on the water and stuck my hands under the coolness. As I let it run over my hands I pushed until my arms up to my elbows were also wet and I just stood there.
Water was an element.
If I was tethered to the elements, the water making me feel better made more sense. I dropped my head and took a deep breath. With my back to the guys, I had no idea what they were doing but they were silent. As in I could’ve heard a pin drop silent.
Part of me began to wonder if all of this had been by design.
Who’d moved here first? The Goods or the Mathers? Who had followed? Had my grandmother wanted to keep an eye on Reverend Mather? Had he been watching her? I was desperate to know who’d been responsible. I didn’t give a shit about revenge. But that revelation surprised me. I’d thought that I’d wanted someone to pay, especially since I was now able to be the harbinger of doom just by getting angry. I could hurt people which was what I thought I wanted my entire life. To hurt the people who’d hurt me.
That desire changed as I stood there running my arms under the cold water. I wouldn’t be about revenge of what had happened in the past. Apparently that was what got my grandma killed… maybe even my parents. No. Now I’d just be about making sure they didn’t do to me what they had my family.
White magic or dark. Obviously I didn’t want to be into any dark magic and I’d declare myself to white magic right now if I could. But apparently, it didn’t work that way. I wasn’t sure how it did work but I’d have to be careful until I was firmly on the good side.
My heart had returned to its normal rhythm and the anger that had filled my veins subsided. I’d have to remember this water trick for later. I turned off the water, snatched the towel on the counter and finally turned back to the guys.
They were both watching me as if I was a bomb ready to drop. I wasn’t. I wouldn’t ever be.
“So now what?” I asked, feeling almost as helpless as I had before he’d come to town.
Me wanting to be on the side of the good guys didn’t even have anything to do with Luken. Sure, he’d said if I went dark that we couldn’t be together. Which indicated he wanted to be with me. Even if he was just supposed to guide me. Even if he wasn’t supposed to be with me. The cat’s out of the bag now, as Miller had said.
“Now,” Luken began. “We train you some more on some basics and set the Mather girls up for a confrontation.”
Miller nodded. “It’s the only way to end this for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Luken
I’d made it sound so simple. Yup. Just set up the Mather family that been after your grandma and anyone related to her for a few centuries. No big deal.
But if it worked, we’d break a vicious four-hundred-year-old cycle of hate and vendettas. In telling Miranda about the families, I probably should’ve mentioned that this could be dangerous. I owed it to her, to be honest. Miranda deserved to know what she was going to be up against. But I thought she had a pretty good idea.
And fuck, it scared me a little to be in so deep both with her and with the entire situation. Then there was the little matter of the council. By the rules of my job, I should’ve told them my plan before her. But fuck it. I was already in. This was happening and I didn’t hear Miller objecting either. At least if we got into trouble with them, I wouldn’t be alone. It wasn’t like they’d kill us or anything. That would’ve gone against white magic but fuck they could make our lives miserable.
Still. I needed to touch base.
“Give me a minute. I need to call the council.” I leaned over to give her a quick kiss, both to reassure her and myself. Her lips were tentative and not as soft as they usually were. Clearly, although she’d calmed herself she was still ticked off at me. Then I sighed as I stood to my full height and left the kitchen to step outside.
“Why do you need to call them?” she asked.
It was so easy to forget that she didn’t know exactly how our coven was set up.
“They sent me here. To you. If I don’t call in every once in a while, I’ll either pay for it when I get back with the shittiest jobs that exist or they’ll send some asshole to come help out.”
Her gaze flitted over to Miller then came back to me. “Like him?”
“Exactly.”
“Ouch. Burn,” Miller deadpanned.
Miranda shook her head. “But I don’t think he’s an asshole. He’s been nothing but nice.”
“You don�
�t know him yet,” I countered but in all actuality, I was giving him a hard time. He wasn’t an asshole. Miller and I were like brothers. I’d lived with his family when I first got to Echo Valley. Had my own place now, so did he, but that didn’t mean the feeling had changed.
Miller would keep her company. Hell, maybe he’d talk her into being less upset with me.
I went out the back door into the yard not far from where Serena had died but chances were good that my phone would still ring before I got all the way out there. Most of the time I felt like the council had me on LoJack. And again, I wasn’t wrong.
The shrill sound of my phone began when I was halfway down.
“Michael,” I said into the phone.
“Anything you want to tell me?” he asked back.
I sighed. “Here’s what you need to know.” I began to lay everything out for him. Told him about the four-hundred-year-old vendetta, which I was sure he already knew. But still, I rattled it off just in case.
“I’m worried about leaving Miranda alone. If they get to her without at least one of us here—”
“I understand the ramifications of that.”
“If the Mather twins decide to take up their family’s legacy. I don’t even know if they know about it or are already sucked in. I know that they’ve tormented Miranda her entire life and I’m not about to leave her to face that danger alone.” I took a breath. “I’m pretty sure Reverend Mather killed Serena. Or stopping him killed her. Something like that.”
“Serena wouldn’t have been on the offensive. That’s not how she worked. If what you say is true, then Mather came after her.”
“So I’m staying until this is over?” I asked. The last thing I wanted him to say was for the three of us to pack up and leave. I wasn’t sure Miranda would go just yet anyway. And this was one thing I knew I would defy him on even if he told me to leave right now.
Witch of Warwick (Dark Coven Book 1) Page 14
