Awakening: The Last Coven Series

by KT Webb

  The tiny creatures continued to assault her as she ran, but she made it into the shadows. It was as though an invisible barrier kept them from following her; they didn’t move past the line where the sun ended and the shadows began.

  “Guys, you have to follow me! They want to stay in the light. They won’t follow us in here.”

  Lucy was on her feet in an instant, running blindly towards the trees. Sutton quickly conjured padding around the trunk of the one Lucy was headed for. It softened the impact, but she fell onto her back with a thud. Grace seemed to be enjoying the miniscule monsters and hadn’t budged from her spot in the sunlight. After many failed attempts to get the fairies away from her, Harper finally lost her cool.

  “ENOUGH!” She bellowed.

  The fairies froze midair. It was as though time had stopped and they were suspended like pieces of a mobile. Somehow, the youngest witch had used her powers without even trying. Harper looked shocked, but took advantage of the moment to untangle the tiny hands from her thick auburn hair. She harrumphed loudly as she grabbed Grace by the forearm and dragged her along towards the trees.

  “Stupid little twits,” Harper mumbled.

  “I thought they were sweet. They just liked your hair,” Grace said to Harper, pulling her arm away. “Couldn’t you guys understand them? They were admiring my skin and Harper’s hair. They didn’t seem to like you though, Sutton.”

  Sutton rolled her eyes at Grace. She didn’t particularly care if the fairies liked her. They were irritating and reminded her of horse flies. A throat cleared behind them causing the girls to turn in unison. Brennus still stood at the end of the path. While it was tempting to create a portal and whisk them away, she had a feeling they would still end up dealing with the Druids at some point. Sutton sighed and strode with determination towards the strange old man.

  “It’s about time, I was starting to wonder if I’d finally die just waiting for you,” he said.

  “Yeah, okay. Now what?”

  “Now you meet my people. The Vates predicted your arrival just as they did your ancestors centuries ago.”

  “The Fates? As in, snipping the thread of life?” Lucy practically panted in excitement.

  “No. Vate, with a ‘v.’ The Vates are Druids who are gifted with the sight. Genovefa is a Vate; she is the Vate who first instructed us to create true witches.”

  “You created the witches? How?” Grace asked.

  “There is much for you to learn, please come with me. Into the sidhe.”

  A sharp intake of breath came from Harper. Sutton recalled the dream Harper had recounted just the night before. She was running through a forest, heading for a hill that Grace said was called a sidhe. Were they standing on a path in the woods she had run through in her dream? Lucy linked an arm with Harper in an attempt to calm her; the red-head took a steadying breath as they followed the Druid.

  He walked boldly toward the grassy knoll as though he expected to walk right through it. To Sutton’s surprise, he did just that. When they didn’t immediately follow him, he poked his head through the grass.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?”

  He disappeared once more, leaving the girls to gape after him. There was only one thing for it; Sutton followed in his footsteps and walked right through what should have been solid earth.

  Lucy

  Chapter Eighteen

  It’s Only a Dream

  “Okay, then. Here goes nothing.” Lucy charged through the grass wall in front of her.

  If someone had asked her what she expected to find on the other side, she might have said “dirt,” but she would have been wrong. It was like stepping through the door of a rundown shack to find yourself standing in Versailles. Harper and Grace crashed into her as she stared at the grand archways and carved stone columns.

  “Holy, sh”—Harper began, but stopped quickly at a sharp look from Brennus.

  “Welcome to Idir.”

  “It’s spectacular,” Grace whispered.

  “Not to sound like a moron, but. . . how did you fit this in that hill?” Harper asked, looking back and forth between the Druid and cavernous room they stood in.

  Lucy laughed before she could stop herself, and was rewarded with a sour look from Harper. Brennus led them past the smooth columns toward a wide set of stone steps. Their footsteps echoed softly off the distant walls. They followed him closely, unsure of what to expect as they took a left at the landing and continued up another flight of stairs. On that landing, Lucy had a grand view of the entry they had just come from. It was breathtaking.

  “Through there, you’ll find your rooms.” Brennus pointed to their right. “You can get settled in after we speak to the others. Follow me.”

  “We never said we were going to stay here,” Sutton objected.

  “You don’t have to, but I believe you will choose to. We have much to offer you.” He turned and continued toward the archway at the other end of the landing.

  Grace looped her arm through Sutton’s and gently guided the stubborn witch after the Druid. Lucy fell in step behind Harper. If it weren’t for the wings, she wouldn’t have caught sight of the stowaway tucked within Harper’s hair. One of the fairies had managed to cling to the strands they’d been so fond of, and had accompanied them to Idir. Lucy laughed at the mischievous creature as it rearranged the red curtain like a veil to shield it from discovery.

  “Um, Harper, you know those fairies?”

  “You mean the irritating little minions that tried to rip out my hair? Yeah, we’ve met.”

  “Well, there’s one in your hair,” Lucy said.

  “What?!” She reached up and tried to find it.

  The fairy popped up from behind a curl, and stuck out her tiny tongue in Lucy’s direction. She giggled again as it released an angry barrage of chirps at her. Upon hearing the strange language, Grace was back and searching for the silly fairy. She gently extracted it from the nest it was trying to make in Harper’s hair.

  “She likes you, that’s all,” Grace explained.

  “Yeah, well, she can like me from over there. That thing doesn’t have any hair. It has no idea how hard it is to get tangles like this out!”

  “She says she’s sorry.”

  “She? How can you tell?” Harper asked.

  “She told me, duh. Her name is Oonagh, Queen of the Fairies.”

  “What is up with us attracting all the queens?” Sutton asked with narrowed eyes.

  Lucy stifled a giggle and decided not to point out the dual meaning behind her question. Oonagh blinked innocently at Harper as she reached for her hair again.

  Harper came close to the fairy resting in Grace’s hand. “I’ll make you a deal; I’ll let you sit on my shoulder, but you can’t knot up my hair.”

  The fairy seemed to understand them, even if Grace was the only one who could understand it. She stood and nodded eagerly before flitting over to Harper and resting on her shoulder. The fairy nuzzled her head against Harper’s neck, and let out a contented sigh. Lucy couldn’t help but think it was adorable.

  “You’d better hope that’s the only fairy that followed us in here. The last time we had an infestation, it took centuries to get rid of them all.” Brennus chuckled as he shook his head at the creature.

  “What do you mean ‘get rid of them’?” Grace demanded.

  “Calm yourself. I only meant we had to round them up and take them back to the wood outside. Idir is no place for those little pests. Our palace is the gateway between the Otherworld and your world. It is up to us to maintain the separation. We have to keep Earth creatures on Earth, and Other creatures in the Otherworld.”

  They had stopped walking. An ornately carved wooden door beckoned to them with muffled voices on the other side. Lucy examined the door for a knob or handle but found none. Brennus waved a hand in front of the door, leaving a glittering trail of symbols suspended in the air. He brought his hands together by pressing the tips of his thumbs against each other. He curved his
hands down until the backs of his hands faced the door, then brought the knuckles of his other fingers together and pulled the thumbs away from one another. The door swung open of its own accord.

  The movements he made with his hands were like a key to open the door. Lucy looked at his back appreciatively; she had to learn how to do that. Inside the room stood three other ancient people, and one young woman who couldn’t be older than twenty.

  “Brennus! Welcome back, brother.”

  “You found them. Thank Brigid,” said the young woman, her eyes shining.

  “Allow me to introduce you to the Last Coven of true witches. Sutton, Lucy, Grace, and Harper.” Brennus indicated each girl as he said their names. “Ladies, meet the Druids. My brother Caderyn, and our sisters Blodwen and Cerys.”

  Brennus walked over to the girl who looked so out of place amongst the ancient Druids. He placed a hand on her shoulder the way a father would with his daughter. Lucy wondered briefly if that was the nature of their relationship before Brennus introduced the girl and her perception changed completely.

  “This is Genovefa, the Vate.”

  “The Genovefa that told you to create the first coven?” Harper voiced what they were all thinking.

  “The very same,” Brennus said with a smile.

  “But how. . .” Grace began.

  “How do we look like we’re inches from death and she looks like a young woman?”

  All four girls nodded as they stared.

  “There are many things you will learn about the Druids and Vates; the first is that the latter exist outside of time and space. That is how Vates see into the future; they are in all times simultaneously.”

  “Are you the only one?” Sutton asked.

  Genovefa shook her head. “That is an interesting question. We are many, but we are only one. In the literal sense, there is only me, but in the cosmic sense, there are an infinite number of Vates in the universe.”

  Lucy was struggling to wrap her mind around the concept. She was the only Vate, but there were technically an incalculable number of them? The confusion must have been evident in her expression.

  “One day you’ll understand. I’ve seen it. But, for now, you’ll have to accept the head cannon,” Genovefa said.

  Lucy laughed. She couldn’t decide if it was fitting or strange for a timeless being to use a term as modern as “head cannon.” The other girls must have been thinking along the same lines, as they exchanged the same bewildered look she felt on her own face.

  “Ah, I see you’ve found each other already,” Genovefa said, gesturing at the fairy perched on Harper’s shoulder.

  “Uh, yeah. I guess you could call it that.” Harper grinned slightly as she glanced at the creature.

  “Trust me, you’ll be thankful for that troublemaker when you need her one day.” Genovefa paused as though listening to something far away, then bowed her head at the Druids before dissolving into thin air.

  “She does that,” Blodwen explained.

  The Druids looked very much alike. The sisters, Blodwen and Cerys, didn’t have flowing beards like their brothers, but their wavy white hair flowed freely past their waists. Both had kind blue eyes, but Blodwen had worry lines on her brow, and Cerys had laugh lines near her eyes. Caderyn also seemed to be the opposite of Brennus. Both had magnificent beards, but where Brennus let his hang loosely, Caderyn had intricately braided facial hair. He appeared to be more rigid than the Druid who had led them to this room. The male Druids sported deep green eyes that were so dark it was hard to catch the jade hues that ran through them.

  “Well, ladies, as much as we’d love to tell you everything you need to know right now, I fear your mortal bodies need food and rest. You’ve had a long journey and your use of magic to bring you to Tobernalt will have drained some of your energy. My sisters will guide you to your rooms, and we’ll have your meal delivered there straight away,” Caderyn instructed, leaving very little room for argument.

  Lucy wanted to argue, but she was exhausted. The day had been overwhelming, and there was so much more ahead of them. The others seemed to feel the same way because not even Sutton argued as the Druids herded them towards the archway leading to the rooms where they’d be staying in.

  It was like walking into a lavish dormitory. Four-poster beds were tucked against each wall and covered in plush green linens. In the center of the room sat two oversized couches with a low table between them. An open door to the right revealed a large soaker tub. Lucy almost asked how they had indoor plumbing until she remembered; magic.

  “Your food should arrive shortly. The brownies are excellent cooks.”

  Lucy perked up a bit just knowing there were other creatures she once thought were mythological. A few months ago, she would have called someone crazy if they told her she was a witch who would need to stop demigods from releasing their crazy mother. Now, she was sitting in a castle owned by Druids, with three other witches.

  When their food arrived, they ate quickly. Harper broke off pieces of the various entrees and fed them to her new fairy friend. The girls ate in silence; they were either too tired or too preoccupied to bother with meaningless conversation. None of them knew what to expect next, so it didn’t do any good discussing their current situation. As soon as she finished eating, Lucy was ready for bed. She went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and braided the brown hair that hung in dripping waves around her shoulders. She reached for the pile of clothes she’d discarded only to discover they had been replaced by a fresh outfit. The brownies must bring more than just food. Lucy pulled the silky pajama bottoms over her legs and slipped the matching top over her head. Despite the thin fabric, she was warm and comfortable.

  When she opened the bathroom door, Sutton was perched on the edge of her bed waiting her turn. The other girl breezed by her with a small smile as her own legs carried her toward the beckoning bed. Harper and Grace were sitting together on one of the beds playing a game with the fairy. Lucy lay down without further delay, and drifted off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  Grace

  Chapter Nineteen

  To Summon a Sprite

  The girls didn’t wake until the late hours of the morning. Almost as soon as they woke, warm muffins and an assortment of fruit appeared in their room. Grace scooped up a blueberry muffin and snatched a banana from the bowl. When the other girls finished getting ready and eating their breakfast, they ventured out to find the Druids.

  They heard them before they found them. The hushed tones echoed against the stone walls as they argued. Grace motioned for the other girls to stop and stay against the wall. She couldn’t be sure if all the Druids were there or if they were overhearing a conversation between the Vate and one of their benefactors.

  “The timeline is all wrong. Everything has been moved up; Harper was supposed to come into her powers before they ever arrived here. They can’t face the sons of Carman without her, but they can’t do it with her either.”

  Grace glanced at the redhead to her left. She felt bad for her; it wasn’t like the other girls knew how to use their powers. The only witch who had learned to control and summon them at will was Sutton; she seemed to understand the magic. Grace felt it within her, clawing at her just underneath the surface. She wanted to use it, but she didn’t know how.

  “I understand, Genovefa, but they’re here. We can’t exactly avoid confrontation until the Fall Equinox. I feel the changes in the air. The sons of Carman have arrived in Ireland,” Brennus told her.

  Grace felt her stomach clench. The last time she saw them, they had tied her up and planned to kill her. Lucy caught her eye with a sympathetic smile as she reached out to squeeze her hand. They didn’t even really know what the enemy wanted other than to kill them, and from Grace’s point of view, that was not a good thing.

  “There’s only one option. We need to match the timeline,” Cerys interjected.

  “You know that is dangerous, and nearly impossible to obtain ingredients
for.” Blodwen admonished her sister.

  Grace had heard enough, she wasn’t going to stand there and listen to a bunch of geezers decide what she would do. She launched herself around the corner. “Do we get a vote here?”

  The Druids and Vate stared at them. Grace was instantly embarrassed. Maybe Sutton was wearing off on her, it wasn’t in her nature to lose her temper or speak her mind so forcefully. For powerful, ancient people, they certainly weren’t very good at keeping private conversations private. She felt the other girls join her; they formed a strong line facing the people who had just been talking about them.