by C. C. Wood
Her voice was smooth and tranquil, as though she were infusing calming magic into her words. Heck, she probably was, but I didn't mind. I needed it.
Once my pulse returned to a normal rhythm, Angie studied me for a long time. "You need to start meditating daily. For five minutes in the morning and evening. Eventually, I'd like you to extend that to ten then fifteen."
I nodded, willing to try anything to keep from hurting someone I cared about. Like Mal. Or Jonelle.
"And you need to talk to someone about what happened."
"Who could I tell?" I asked. "If I went to a licensed psychologist and talked about what happened, I'd end up sedated and under supervision in a hospital."
"You could talk to me," Angie offered. "Or Jonelle. Or Mal."
"Or me."
Teri appeared next to me on the porch, standing on the boards.
"Hi, Teri," Angie greeted her. "How are you?"
"I'm better now that we're home," Teri replied. She looked to me. "I will always listen to you if you need to talk, Zoe. And you know I won't judge you."
Tears hit the backs of my eyes and I blinked them away. God, I'd cried more in the last week than I had in a year. I didn't know what I would do if Teri wasn't around.
"There you go," Angie said. She got to her feet and so did I. We stood near each other. "I know you want to start training right away," she began. "But I think you know that you have to get your emotions under control first."
She was right. In this state, I would end up accidentally killing someone. It would be like playing with a loaded gun, safety off.
"Do what I said for a week and try to rest as much as you can. We'll talk again next Monday and see where your head is at."
In other words, I had to get my shit straight or no training. It wouldn't matter if it took one week or twenty. Angie would make me take the necessary time.
"Did you know about my...ancestor?" I asked her.
"Death, you mean?"
I nodded.
"Not at first," she admitted. "But once I went to the special collections in Louisiana, it became pretty clear."
"Special collections?" I asked.
"Original grimoires, histories, memoirs, and other rare and valuable resources for our covens."
I nodded and went back to our previous subject. "How do you think Beatrix knew?"
Angie shrugged. "I have no idea. It could have been Jezzy. It could have been another precog. It could have been Beatrix herself who saw a vision. There's no one left to question."
"You found Jezzy?" I asked. The other witch had disappeared at the start of the fight and I hadn't heard anything else.
Angie shook her head, her jaw tight. "No one's seen or heard from her. But I doubt she'll come after you."
"Why?"
"Because she's seen what you can do and she understands that you could kill her with a thought."
Maybe Angie was right, but I'd learned from watching other people that if someone was the best and toughest, there would always be challengers. Some people were determined to beat the best, to prove that they were better.
I didn't want to be the champion or the monster here. I didn't want to fight to win or to survive. I just wanted to live.
Angie's hands landed on my shoulders. "No one else knows, Zoe. Your secret is safe and it will stay that way."
"And if it doesn't?" I asked. It was difficult to believe that after what happened with Beatrix.
"Then you will protect yourself." Her hands squeezed me lightly. "And I will protect you too."
"So will I," Teri chimed in.
Meeting Angie's steady gaze, I knew that she was telling me the truth. She would protect me and help me if I needed her. I wouldn't be alone in this. And now that Teri had grown stronger, I didn't doubt that she would throw herself into the melee with enthusiasm.
"Thank you," I said to Angie.
"Don't thank me yet," she replied, releasing me. "I'll talk to you in a few days. I've been away from the coven for too long and everyone is having some sort of disaster or another."
She said good-bye to Teri, walked out to her car, and drove away.
I plopped my butt back down on the front step and stared unseeingly at my front lawn. The sun had gone down hours ago and the moon was rising.
Teri sat down next to me. "It will be okay, Zoe."
"I'm not sure anything will be okay, ever again."
Teri nudged me with an elbow and scowled at me. "Seriously? You're a badass witch, a descendant of Death himself. You have a ghost as a familiar. A witch as your best friend. And one hella hot dude who worships the ground you walk on and is ready to marry you like...tomorrow. Things will not only be okay. They are going to kick ass."
"Teri..."
"No," she snapped.
I stared at her in surprise. Teri rarely ever got angry with me.
"Stop looking at all the negatives and start counting your blessings, Zoe Thorne. You're alive, healthy, and you're surrounded by people that love you. You have a future. Anyone that tries to take that from you will have to go through me. And you. You aren't weak or defenseless or stupid. You may be untrained, but you won't always be that way. The only way you'll lose is if you wave the white flag before the battle even starts."
I blinked at Teri several times. "Okay."
Her eyes narrowed as she stared me down. "Okay?"
I nodded. "Okay."
"Okay what?"
"You're right."
It was Teri's turn to blink at me. "Run that by me again?"
I couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at the corner of my mouth. "You're right. I'm not counting my blessings. I'm dwelling on the negatives. On the what-ifs. And it won't help me. I'll prepare for the worst, but accept the best I can get."
"Huh. That was actually kind of easy," Teri mused.
"Great pep talk, coach."
"Now, you're just being a smartass," she mumbled.
"I learned from the best." I batted my eyes at her, attempting to look innocent.
"Stop that. You look like you have an uncontrollable eye twitch."
I grinned.
"Fine. I'm going back inside. I'm dying to know how this damn movie ends anyway."
"Well, the main character—"
Teri clapped her hands over her ears. "I can't hear you. La-la-la-la-la."
She winked out of sight and I heard Stony and Blaine yelp inside. I guess she reappeared in the living room.
I sat on the porch for a long while, thinking about what Angie had said. She didn't think we would ever know how Beatrix found out about my power, but I thought of someone who might.
I might not have access to his power any longer, but the door was still inside me, waiting to be used.
Maybe it was time to knock on it.
I closed my eyes and breathed, in and out, slow and even. I focused inward, sinking down into my power toward that door. I fell deeper and deeper until I stopped right in front of it. I could almost see it in my mind's eye.
I took one more breath, reached out, and rapped it three times.
I waited. Twenty seconds. Fifty. A minute.
This time, when I knocked, I did it with my fist and my magic.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Suddenly, the door swung open and I was falling in the darkness.
Instead of waiting for Death to stop me, I reached for my magic. My descent slowed until I was floating within the blackness. It was warm and soft, inviting rather than frightening as it had been during my first visit here.
"Daughter, why have you come? I thought we said our good-byes when we saw each other last."
I turned and found him standing behind me. Dressed in a charcoal grey sweater and black pants, he looked like an Adrian, as he insisted I call him, rather than Death incarnate.
"Hello, Adrian. I apologize for the intrusion, but there is something I need to ask you."
His gaze grew wary as if he immediately understood why I was here. "Ask."
"Ho
w did Beatrix know about my magic?"
He tucked his hands into his pockets, but his shoulders were stiff. "I think you already know the answer to that."
"I'm not your only living descendant, am I? It's been thousands of years. Your great-grandchildren many times over have been fertile, haven't they?"
Adrian nodded gravely. "Yes."
"Do they all have the same abilities I have?"
"No. There are a few, some strong and some weak, that possess my magic. But you are by far the strongest."
"And was Beatrix one of these? A daughter of Death?"
He looked sad, as if he mourned Beatrix's loss despite the fact that she'd been evil to the core. "Yes. She felt your awakening and recognized your magic for what it was. She was born with a similar power, just weaker than you."
I sighed. One mystery solved. "Will I need to worry about your other descendants coming to harm me?"
He shook his head. "No, little one. Your secret remains safe. I have made sure of that."
"How?"
Death remained silent and preternaturally still. He didn't blink or even breathe. He just watched me with his sad blue and hazel eyes. His stare should have been unsettling, but it wasn't. Not any longer.
"Adrian," I prompted.
"You are well-hidden now, Zoe Thorne."
I finally understood him. He was like any parent or grandparent. Or in this case great-grandparent many times over. He wanted his family to be safe.
I had so many questions, but now wasn't the time to ask. He was finished discussing this. I could feel it.
I bowed my head toward him. "Thank you for helping me, Adrian. I won't forget it. And I do hope that we see each other again before it's my time to pass on."
A smile tugged at his mouth. "A lifetime is merely a blink when you have eternity." He crossed to me and kissed my forehead. "You have my blessing, little one. Live a long, happy life."
This time it was truly good-bye. I had a feeling that the portal I'd crossed through would remain closed to me in the future.
"I guess I'll see you in a blink, then."
Adrian's eyes widened and his smile grew, but I was already dissolving and rising, returning to the world of the living.
I opened my eyes and saw that the moon was still high in the sky and that the fireflies still danced in my yard. I hadn't been gone long.
The whisper of my front door opening distracted me from my thoughts.
I turned and saw Mal walking toward me. He sat behind me, one leg on each side of my hips, and his chest against my back.
He'd been doing things like this a lot since we returned from Austin. It was as if he'd been holding himself back for all these months and now that he had permission to touch me, he couldn't help himself. Or maybe he sensed how much I needed it.
"You okay?" he asked.
I looked up at the night sky, the full moon surrounded by a thin white halo. A cool breeze blew through the bushes around my house, filling the air with the scent of earth and green leaves.
"Yes, I am."
His arms crept around my waist, pulling me closer so that I was leaning fully into his body.
"Good."
I turned my head and kissed the underside of his jaw. "What about you? Are you okay?"
"I'm here with you."
I smiled. "Is that an answer?"
He leaned back so he could look into my eyes. "Anytime I'm with you, I'm more than okay. I'm happy."
I kissed him again. "Good."
We sat on the porch in silence, wrapped in the night. And each other. It was pure peace. Whatever happened tomorrow, we would deal with it.
But tonight, we had each other.
And that was all that mattered.
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About the Author
Born and raised in Texas, C.C. Wood writes saucy paranormal and contemporary romances featuring strong, sassy women and the men that love them. If you ever meet C.C. in person, keep in mind that many of her characters are based on people she knows, so anything you say or do is likely to end up in a book one day.
A self-professed hermit, C.C. loves to stay home, where she reads, writes, cooks, and watches TV. She can usually be found drinking coffee or wine as she spends time with her hubby, daughter, and two beagles.
Also by C.C. Wood
Novellas:
Girl Next Door Series:
Friends with Benefits
Frenemies
Drive Me Crazy
Girl Next Door-The Complete Series
Kiss Series:
A Kiss for Christmas
Kiss Me
Novels:
Seasons of Sorrow
NSFW Series:
In Love With Lucy
Earning Yancy
Tempting Tanya
Chasing Chelsea
Westfall Brothers Series:
Texas with a Twist
Wicked Games Series:
All or Nothing
Paranormal Romance:
Bitten Series:
Bite Me
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Bewitched, Bothered, and Bitten
One Little Bite
Love Bites
Bite the Bullet
Blood & Bone Series (Bitten spin-off)
Blood & Bone
Souls Unchained
Forevermore (Contains Destined by Blood)
Paranormal Cozy Romcom:
The Wraith Files:
Don't Wake the Dead
The Dead Come Calling
Raise the Dead
