Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1)

by April Gutierrez

  “Sweet child” her voice trailed off. The fog became thick around me and everything began to fade.

  “Torment?” I questioned, but then his image became clear behind closed lids.

  “Celia….Celia…” his voice called out to me.

  It was his face I saw when I opened my eyes, his dark eyes peering into mine.

  “You are my torment.” I whispered softly.

  “And you are mine.” He replied in equal softness.

  “What does this mean?”

  “It means a lot of things and none of them good.”

  Dmitri helped me sit up. Olivia was staring at the two of us as if we were ghosts in her presence.

  “I never, in my life!” she huffed and stormed out of the room.

  What else could I do but stare at him?

  My Protector

  “She never did like me.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “There is a lot that you will not understand, and more that will put us at odds, but Celia, I cannot change what is.”

  “What do you mean, ‘put us at odds’?” his words raised all kinds of red flags.

  “Why does Olivia dislike you?”

  “She blames me for your mother’s death, does not agree with my choices.”

  “Why would you be to blame for my mother’s death?”

  “Don’t you see? Connect the flipping dots Celia!” Olivia shouted from the archway into the living room.

  “He was Her protector. He was supposed to save Her. She wasn’t supposed to die in that car accident.”

  Olivia had tears in her eyes and I suspect an equal darkness in her heart. Anger and resentment lined the words she spoke.

  “I could only save one of them, Olivia. I had to make a choice.”

  And there it was. The reason he would forever be a torment in my life. My mother is dead because he didn’t do his job. He didn’t protect his witch.

  My silence brought attention to me. They both took several steps closer to me but my eyes remained affixed to the creases on the wood planks beneath my feet.

  “Celia, I had to save you. Your mother was barren and would never have children again. If I had saved her, the coven would lose its bloodline and eventually all would be lost. I had to save you. You must see this.”

  “I need you to leave, Dmitri.” I swallowed hard, a pain in my chest causing the anger from earlier to return.

  “Please don’t ask me to leave, Celia. We must speak about this, you need to understand.”

  “Understand?” I looked up, stared into his dark brooding eyes. “You are asking an impossible feat, Dmitri.” I hissed through closed teeth.

  Olivia walked to the door and opened it.

  “Leave” she ordered firmly.

  I turned away from them and heard as he reached Olivia. “This isn’t over, Olivia. You know she must accept this and us. You cannot fight me on this.”

  “I know one thing, Dmitri. She is much stronger than my sister ever was. She can fight whatever battle she wants without my help or yours.”

  “You know that isn’t true.”

  Eventually, the door slammed shut and without turning back to my aunt, I walked up the stairs to my room.

  I took the picture frame of mother out from under my pillow and looked at her smiling face.

  ‘Why didn’t you at least give me a chance? Why does it feel like a stab in the heart every time I hear a new truth?’

  The exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks. I laid down, gripping my mother’s picture to my chest.

  When the answers never came, I closed my eyes and fell asleep. A deep sleep in which I did not dream.

  CHAPTER Five

  Gone is the time in which witches were only thought of during Halloween, in my mind. The mere fact alone, that Halloween had past not too long ago and I had handed out candy to no less than 30 or so little witch clad girls made the feeling now surreal.

  The following days, it was hard to look at Dmitri without wanting to stab his eye out with a hot-poker. Luckily, Aunt Olivia doesn’t own one, or I just might have succeeded.

  Saturday night came quickly enough, and with disagreeable eyes, Olivia said goodbye before I left the house, when Lisa came to pick me up.

  “Is she okay with you coming tonight?” Lisa asked cautiously, probably noticing the disconnect.

  “She is just being an overly protective aunt.” I replied, getting into Lisa’s jeep.

  “Aawwee, that’s so sweet. I wish my mom was like that sometimes.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Of course, it just means she cares. My mom is always out of town, or stuck at the office, not very maternal, anymore.” Her sad tone caught me by surprise.

  She pulled out of my driveway and started down the street.

  “I hope you don’t mind but I promised Anabel we would pick her up as well.”

  “That’s fine.” I agreed, “What do you mean by not anymore, about your mom?” I said, going back to her earlier statement. It seemed strange to me by how much it bothered her.

  “Well, she is just busy I suppose. When I was little I remember doing lots of things with her. Going places, meeting her friends, but then it all kind of stopped.” She paused as she fiddled with the gears.

  “She isn’t the same with me anymore. These past few months have been especially tough. It’s like she’s become someone different altogether.”

  “Have you talked to her? Told her how her distance has made you feel?” I questioned, not out of curiosity but out of concern for a new friend. The genuine sadness made me miss my own mother so much more.

  “She says she has a lot on her mind that certain things have been weighing on her but that I shouldn’t concern myself with them.”

  “Sounds like something my mother would have told me.” I mumbled.

  She slowed for a red light, “I’m sorry. Here I am going on and on about my mother and I’m sure you think I’m some sort of insensitive jerk. At least I have mine, right.”

  “I wasn’t thinking that at all, but you’re right on one account. You still have her, which is why you need to make sure you have a straight line of communication with her.”

  The light changed and we sat in quiet for a few moments. It wasn’t until we turned down Anabel’s street that Lisa began the conversation.

  “I will make the effort. And thank you for the advice, sometimes it really does take having a sounding board to realize how we are really feeling.”

  “Anytime,” I said, feeling the smile creep across my face.

  “Now, Anabel has had a similar situation with her mother as well recently. Maybe later, when no one is listening, you can convey that same message to her.”

  “What’s wrong with Anabel’s mother?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. She doesn’t talk about her home life much. The only reason I know is because I spent the night two weeks ago and I noticed her mother isn’t around much. And it’s eerie to be around her when she is there.”

  We pulled into Anabel’s driveway and Lisa honked the horn.

  “You’re not going to get out?” I asked.

  “No, she is waiting. See.” She motioned for me to look out as our friend was already making her way towards the Jeep.

  She was all smiles and cheery disposition hopping towards the jeep.

  “The two of you are a sight for sore eyes. I’ve been beyond bored all day.”

  “You finished your English paper already?” Lisa asked frankly.

  Anabel scrunched her face, “I did most of it. I just need to do some editing.”

  Lisa looked over to me as Anabel situated herself, “That is code for, I only did my outline.”

  “Wait, wait, wait, I did get some of the actual paper done but I know it’s riddled with mistakes. The document had a lot of red lined words and what nots.”

  The three of us giggled at Anabel’s manner of excusing herself.

  “Did you tell her where we are going?” Anabel asked Lisa, glan
cing at me with mischief in her eyes.

  “I thought we were just going back to your house?”

  “Well,” Lisa began, “Sometimes, Kyle lets us hang out in an abandoned log barn on his property off of Croom Rd.”

  I could feel my head tilting and my eyes slightly closing in that, You should have mentioned this, manner.

  “It’s perfectly safe, and everyone’s parents know we all hang out there.”

  “Everyone except for my Aunt,” I said to Lisa. “I should have told her this. What if she calls your house and your mother answers the phone?”

  “Your Aunt won’t call, Celia. They never do.”

  The look on her face was innocence mixed with manipulation.

  “Whatever, I’m sure there isn’t much trouble we can get in to on a farm.” I mumbled.

  “It’s not trouble at all…” she trailed off.

  “It’s much more than that.” Anabel giggled, throwing me a sideways glance.

  As much as I wanted to know, I let them have their secrets. I have my own, don’t I?

  I didn’t say a word the rest of the way. It was only a 5 minute drive from Anabel’s to the farm.

  Lisa turned down a dusty road that took us back into the tree covered farm and I found myself clenching my teeth. I’d been fighting this feeling of standing on the edge of a cliff and realizing full well I don’t know how to fly, but knowing somehow that I could if I needed to.

  Lisa and Anabel are the two real aspects of this magical side of myself I know nothing about but it wouldn’t just be us, would it? No, they don’t know the truth of who I am, and if they did, I’m afraid of what would be in store for me.

  That word…afraid…the mere fact that I’m inflicted with fear is exactly what I should be concerned about. Kids have been peer pressured into seemingly less dangerous situations and yet the shroud of truth, behind this group of teenagers, is what concerns me.

  One week is not long enough to learn the inner most secrets of a group of kids who think they have magical abilities. Part of it seems nonsensical, while a more real part just seems dangerous.

  The jeep jolted and all of a sudden I realized we had driven into an open area. I could see a blazing fire near a small cabin and several people sitting and talking off to the side.

  The face that stuck me solid was Dmitri.

  “Why is Dmitri here?” the question came out sounding more concerned than annoyed.

  “I suppose Kyle brought him.” Anabel replied, picking up her bag and jumping out of the Jeep.

  Lisa turned to me before getting out, “What’s the deal with you and him, anyway?”

  Taken back, I didn’t answer as quickly as I should have.

  “You like him, don’t you?” she added.

  My eyes darted down, mostly because I couldn’t answer honestly, and I shook my head no.

  “You could have fooled me. The two of you seem to have a solid connection. All of us can feel it.”

  Before I could add anything, she unbuckled herself and got out of the jeep to let me out.

  Justin had made his way over to Lisa as we walked towards the others. His gesture to hug and kiss her just as she walked up made me realize how sweet a couple the two of them made.

  As a little duck would follow its mother, I followed Lisa to where the rest of her friends sat around the fire.

  Anabel was removing objects from her bag and I realized that she was creating a scene for a ritual. I’d seen the objects doodled in my mother’s magic book the other day. The sage wrap was the most interesting to me. I walked over to her and, absentmindedly, picked it up and lifted it to my nose to inhale the scent.

  The idea that incense would set a mood eluded me. It might have been because it wasn’t lit or because I’d known the smell my whole life, but the inspiration to dabble in magic wasn’t attached to the scent.

  “Like that?” she asked when she noticed me with my eyes closed.

  “My aunt uses it all the time. I’m used to the smell.” I smiled and walked over to a log to sit.

  Across the way, I caught Dmitri staring at me, the fire’s reflection dancing in the whites of his eyes. He looked haunted, disturbed. His expression almost like he wanted to tell me something, but hadn’t the nerve to get up and speak to me.

  The idea of being connected struck a wild idea to freeze in my mind. If we are connected, couldn’t that mean I’d be able to speak to him telepathically?

  Before I could contemplate trying to open that type of connection with him, Carla plopped herself next to me making the log shake.

  “I have no clue why I come to these things. No one ever talks to me anyway.” She complained, staring at the fire.

  “Well then aren’t you glad I moved into town.” I smiled at her.

  “Actually, I am.” She said, turning to face me. “For the first time ever, I feel confidant to speak to someone without worry of being humiliated.” She shrugged her shoulders and faced Lisa who had gotten up to address everyone.

  “Well, as you all know, we have added someone new. Celia, would you stand up please.”

  The heat went straight to my cheeks and I was grateful for the dark atmosphere. Doing as told, I stood and nodded to everyone as they said their welcome.

  Once more, I caught Dmitri’s stiff glare before sitting back down.

  “As you all know, our attempts to do anything of major significance have been futile. I believe that by bringing Celia into the mix we can fix that. What do you say Celia? Want to do something incredible with us?” she offered.

  With all of my being, I wanted to say no; Firmly and soundly for that matter, but I nodded my head yes.

  Getting up, I walked over to her and stood next to her in front of a book that looked an awful lot like mine. My hand reached out and grazed the texture of the page she was reading from, and I realized it even felt like mine.

  My eyes darted to Dmitri in an almost panic. The question came to my mind and almost in an instance I heard his voice.

  “Calm down!” His lips had not moved.

  “Oh, that’s a good one. Let’s try that one.” She suggested excitedly when she noticed I had been touching the page.

  She had been turned to the page that makes lights appear in darkness. Explained in the book, the effects, all depending on how many witches you include in the spell, could be from small orbs of light floating throughout a confined space to an array of large fireworks up high.

  We bent down, took a hand full of dirt from the ground beneath our feet and stood a few feet apart from one another.

  “Blow out, then quickly say the incantation.” She softly ordered.

  It’s funny how expectation works. The moment I released the breath from my lips, I could see the dirt slowly changing into small orbs of light.

  Non sunt Tenebrae

  They traveled through the fire and spread out in the area we were all sitting. Hundreds of tiny orbs lit up the sky, revealing the amazed expressions on each and every one of their faces.

  “Now how are you going to top that?” Dmitri’s voice danced in my head.

  Looking back at him, I saw something I hadn’t seen before…Pride. Could it be possible he was proud of me?

  Mentally, I couldn’t reply. More so because I couldn’t fathom doing something even more spectacular than making light from dirt.

  Lisa grasped my wrist and squealed. “That is the coolest thing Ever!”

  In that moment, I did have one thought I hadn’t had before. The question of maturity, I knew the grave truth behind all this, but does Lisa?

  “I think that is as much as I’m going to try tonight, Lisa.”

  The whole group awed at us, surly wanting us to amaze them some more.

  “What? That can’t be it. We just started.” She complained.

  “Yes, and I’m not in the mood to test limits all at once, if you know what I mean.”

  Immediately, I realized it wasn’t the response she wanted to hear. Her demeanor changed and she mirrored
the reaction of how a toddler would behave being told it was time to go home from their favorite amusement park. Minus the temper tantrum, that is.

  “No, that’s not how it works. We all try something. You can sit but everyone else is going to try something too. Then we try again.”

  “Fine,” I replied, turning to go sit back down next to Carla.