Winter of Discontent (Four Seasons Book 1)

by T. S. Harvey

  ‘First question. You said “Warlock”. I thought Warlocks were evil. Do you … you know … do you kill people?’

  I couldn’t help but laugh.

  ‘No. Not as a rule. I … erm … we, my dad, and my brother, we come from a line of Warlocks called Segans. Historically we are quite a benevolent line. That doesn’t mean we couldn’t do damage if we chose to, it’s just that we don’t choose to.’

  ‘Why did your dad say you had to make me forget?’

  This was a tougher question. I’d thought about what I’d say if she asked but until now I had no idea what my answer would be.

  ‘Well?’ she pushed as I hesitated.

  ‘It’s a long story.’

  ‘Well, you have an hour, tops. Then I have to go home, I have a concert to go to.’

  I picked up my latte and took a slow sip before I began. I told her all about The Council. About how they had spent decades tracking down our line to eliminate the threat of one of us mating with a Moirai.’

  ‘So what’s a Moirai?’

  ‘Quite possibly the most powerful witch of all time. The Council thought they had killed the line off a long way back but a seer prophesised that a Warlock and a Moirai would mate and produce a child that would topple them. That’s why we stay in the shadows. We don’t practise magic in case a Tracer picks up our scent.’

  Before she got chance to ask, I continued.

  ‘A Tracer is another line of Warlock. They work exclusively for The Council. They go from town to town, working their way around the country, around every country, trying to find us. Not just us, though. There are other covens, other lines that pose a threat to The Council. Our magic is like an invisible flag being waved. The Tracer picks up a scent, a sort of instinct when they are close to a spell being cast. Each coven has its strengths, its abilities. We can all sense other sorcerers, other Warlocks to one degree or another but Tracers are particularly good at it. There are other mercenary Warlocks that are used to track witches and wizards but the Tracers are the most efficient. So you see, by not practising magic we have a better chance of staying safe. By wiping your memory of what you saw, what we said, I was keeping my family safe and I was keeping you safe. If you are anywhere near me when a Tracer turns up, it could end really badly for you.’

  Well, that was just about everything. Everything, that is, except telling her Jared and my dad thought she was the Moirai that The Council was looking for!

  I waited for her to comment but she didn’t. I guess I was expecting too much. This was normal for me, it was my life. I hadn’t known the whole truth about why the Tracers were looking for us until recently but everything else was everyday life. It wasn’t this way for Sarah. She’d been thrown from being your average American girl into a world of magic and fear. I wouldn’t have blamed her for running for the hills but I was delighted that she hadn’t.

  ‘I think I need to go. I need to get my head around this, it’s all so crazy.’

  ‘Do you want me to take you home?’

  ‘No. Thank you. I need some space. You understand?’

  ‘Sure. No problem. Call me if you need me?’

  She didn’t answer.

  As she walked out of the coffee shop I wanted to go after her, but I didn’t. Pressing her on this would force her further away. I stayed in the booth for more than an hour. I needed to be sure she wouldn’t be stood at the bus stop when I left, I couldn’t be sure I would be able to resist following her if she had. It was OK though – when I did finally leave she was nowhere to be seen.

  I headed back home. Dad and Jared where shouting at the TV when I got back, so I managed to creep upstairs unseen and change out of my joggers without them ever suspecting where I’d been. I lay down on the bed for a while. The urge to cast a notion to see what she was doing, what she was up to was quite overwhelming but I didn’t. I stayed strong. I knew if I was to ever get a chance with her I had to play it straight. She wasn’t impressed by me, at least not now. I think she really liked me before she knew the truth and that was more of an aphrodisiac than any notion I could ever cast. In the end, I got up and went downstairs.

  ‘Hey there,’ grinned Jared. ‘Don’t speak to Dad. He’s sulking. Bulls are down by fifteen,’ he roared.

  I got myself a can from the fridge in the kitchen and went through and joined them on the couch. I knew I’d not hear from Sarah, as she was at the concert tonight, so I settled down to watch the end of the match. Things weren’t going to go quite the way I thought, though.

  Just before 4 p.m. there came a knock at the door. The three of us sat jolt upright. We sensed it immediately; it was Sarah.

  Chapter Twelve – Explanations

  Erik

  ‘Hi,’ I said as I opened the door, stepped outside and quickly closed the door behind me.

  ‘Hi, I … erm … I couldn’t leave it at that. I need to know more.’

  Her tone was much calmer now, more receptive maybe.

  ‘I just needed to get some space. At least I thought I did, but by the time I got home I wished I hadn’t left. This won’t get you into trouble with your dad will it?’

  ‘Yeah, probably,’ I grinned, ‘but what the Hell. Come on, let’s take a walk.’

  We walked slowly across the lawn and stopped and sat down on a stone wall that lined the edge of the property.

  ‘What about the concert?’

  She paused, smiling just briefly. ‘I need to be here more.’

  ‘OK. What else can I tell you?’

  ‘Everything. I need to know what I’m taking on.’

  My heart flew at this point. “I need to know what I’m taking on.” This was the best indication of her giving me a second chance I could have hoped for. There was no way I was gonna hold back. Whatever she wanted to know, I’d tell her.

  ‘You said that when I was on your balcony, you sensed I was there. What did you mean?’

  ‘The Segan, like other covens, have their own individual gifts. We can sense feelings, fear, sadness, that sort of thing. I actually picked up on your increased adrenalin levels. It’s a strange gift; sometimes we get feelings out of the blue, with no warning, but other times we have to be thinking about someone to sense them. Like tonight, I didn’t know you were at the door until you knocked. My dad, my brother Jared and I – we also have a telepathic ability. We call it Whispering. We can send thoughts; have conversations without speaking, providing the person we are sending them to is receptive.

  She sat for a moment in silence. I think that perhaps she was just trying to take in my answer before moving onto her next question.

  ‘Is hiding from The Council the only reason you don’t perform magic? The only reason you don’t want to be part of all that?’

  ‘Wow. Great question! No. No it’s not. We don’t like a lot of the other rules they have.’

  ‘Such as?’

  I took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. I needed to be careful here.

  ‘My dad loved my mom very much. Please don’t forget that. Warlocks can only father males so in order to perpetuate the line we need to be sure of having someone to mate with; we refer to them as childbearers.’

  I took another breath. I just knew I was gonna mess this up if I rushed it.

  ‘Warlock law dictates that once the childbearer … erm … I mean, the mother has had two sons then she is no longer required and should be … erm … should be disposed of.’

  ‘What?’

  There was a look of pure horror on her face.

  ‘No, before you ask. No. My mother is still alive and well. I told you, Dad loved her very much; he couldn’t kill her. He wiped her memory completely. We were living in Canada at the time – we moved her from Toronto to Ontario and sorted her out with new papers, new ID, and arranged for Segans in the area to look out for her; then we moved back to the US. We see her once in a while. We can’t ever tell her who we are and it kills us. But she’s alive.’

  The smile that crossed Sarah’s face spoke volum
es but there was sadness in her eyes. I didn’t have to ask why. She didn’t know her mother. As far as she was concerned her mother had walked out on her when she was just a young girl so, in many ways, she knew just how Jared and I must feel.

  ‘So what do we do now? Where do we go from here?’

  That certainly wasn’t her easiest question but I knew the answer without any hesitation. I leaned in slowly. Her hair was falling softly around her face; I moved it gently away as I pulled her toward me. I could see it in her eyes; she wanted this moment as much as I did. As our lips touched our breathless energy was electric. I pulled her closer, her arms around my waist now, I could feel, in fact I could hear her heart beating faster and faster. My pulse was racing harder than I had ever known, the tension in my pants became unbearable and then it happened …

  ‘Oh shit …’

  ‘What?’ she asked, clearly annoyed that I’d pulled away.

  ‘Erik! Erik!’

  ‘That! Sorry, I’d better go. I’m gonna need to talk to him. Will you be OK getting home?’

  ‘Sure. Call me tomorrow?’

  I leant forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. ‘Count on it.’

  I saw her to the top of the lane and then turned and walked back up to the house. This wasn’t gonna be fun.

  Dad was angrier than I’d seen him in a long time.

  ‘I thought we agreed. You were gonna stay away from her. Did you even wipe her memory?’

  ‘Yes, but I …’

  ‘But nothing, Erik. You disobeyed me. You have put us all in danger.’

  ‘Nothing has happened. I haven’t told her what she is. I won’t tell her what she it. I have no idea what will happen between us, it’s too early to tell, but I’ll never get her pregnant. I don’t ever want to put a child of mine in that sort of danger, I promise. As long as we never have children then the prophecy won’t be fulfilled. They’ll leave us alone.’

  ‘Don’t be so naïve. The Council are still tracking down Segans. If they find you with her they will kill you both.’

  ‘Not if I don’t release her. They’ll think she is just human. Only Warlocks can sense her fully.’

  ‘Oh right. So they’ll just kill you. Well that’s OK then.’

  ‘The Tracers won’t find us. We have always been careful. Please, Dad, I don’t want to give her up. You know how that feels; please, I can’t give her up.’

  ‘Don’t I have a say in this?’

  Jared hadn’t spoken a word. He’d just sat and listened to Dad and me arguing.

  ‘Of course you do. My choices, my decisions, they affect us all. Of course you have a say.’

  I loved Jared. It killed me that I’d disappointed him, that he’d been put in a position like this but it was a clear choice really; he just needed to decide whether he agreed with me or with Dad.

  ‘If you are willing to go against what Dad and I think then she must be important, you must really like her. So I’m sorry, Dad, but we have to let him do this. Regretting what we’ve done is bad enough, regretting what we don’t do is unbearable.’

  For a moment the three of us stood there in silence. Finally Dad spoke.

  ‘OK. Not that I’m condoning this but I won’t fight you on it. You have to promise, though, no showing off. No magic, nothing, do you understand?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  I hoped I meant that. I didn’t want to cause trouble, put anyone in danger. But I was a Warlock. Sometimes the urge to practise becomes too strong, especially at my age. Jared had already gone through the dangerous age of sixteen to twenty; this is kind of a puberty age for Warlocks. It’s when our natural drive to perform magic is at its strongest. I would try though. At least, I planned to.

  Chapter Thirteen – The Wall

  Sarah

  Monday at school was kind of surreal. Erik had sent me a text earlier that morning to meet in the parking lot before school started. I know he had this geek image to maintain and I now understood why, but it was gonna be hard not to defend him if anyone took a pop at him. I need not have worried, though. When he turned up he looked less geek and more Greek god. The usually oversized sweater had been replaced with a smart, short-sleeved shirt. There was no hiding his true physique underneath it and, for whatever reason, he didn’t appear to want to. As he walked toward me, it was as if no one else were around. All I could see was Erik, and all I wanted to see was Erik. Oblivious to the blatant stares of the jock squad and their groupies, he took me in his arms, held me tightly, and kissed me for longer than I think was sensible. When he let me go, it was all I could do to stand upright. I felt so light-headed. I wanted to turn away from school, take him home, and just make out for the rest of the day. Obviously I didn’t. I knew our feelings were strong but I didn’t want to take that step, not yet – it was too soon.

  ‘I’m gonna see if I can get some of my classes changed, so we have more time together.’

  ‘I doubt they’ll let you do that this far into the term.’

  ‘Are you doubting my skills?’ Erik said with a wink.

  ‘You can’t. You mustn’t. You said it was dangerous to use magic!’

  ‘Yeah, but a little bit won’t hurt. It’s all in a good cause.’ He smiled.

  I shook my head in disbelief. I didn’t want him to do this. I couldn’t care less about his magic, I just wanted him.

  As we headed into school, he turned off toward the secretary’s office and I continued on to my form room.

  ‘So, Trump. Dating the geek then?’

  Kacey didn’t look quite as annoyed as I thought she would, but clearly she wasn’t too impressed.

  ‘Yeah. Is that gonna be a problem?’

  I tried to sound as determined as possible. I wanted to be friends with Kacey but I wasn’t gonna give Erik up. Not for her, not for anyone.

  ‘No. Why should it?’ Her smiled was a little forced but after what Erik had told me, I guess that wasn’t too bad. ‘Come on. We’re gonna be late for class.’

  It was Science next, which I didn’t mind; even if the teacher was a bit of an asshole. All too ready to shout you down, you know the sort. I have to question why guys like him go into teaching, when they clearly don’t like kids.

  We had just made it over to the Science lab when I had the weirdest feeling. I thought I heard Erik but I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  ‘Over here.’

  I heard it again clearer this time: ‘Over here.’

  I turned around quickly but nothing. Eventually I shook it off and walked back towards the class. As we turned up the pathway that led to the Science block, I happened to look up at the classroom. There, at the window, was Erik.

  ‘Hi, guess who has moved Sciences?’

  I heard that for sure, but no one else did, just me. It threw me for a minute and I just stood there staring up at him.

  Once the initial shock had worn off, I couldn’t help but respond, though I never dreamt for one moment he would hear me.

  ‘Stephen Hawking?’ I thought sarcastically.

  I don’t know how but he picked that up; I know he did, because that smile just gave him away. I wanted to be angry with him but was this technically magic? He’d told me it was a skill, not sorcery. Maybe this was OK; maybe I didn’t have to get angry with him.

  I usually sat next to Kacey in Science and I didn’t want to rock the boat with her so I kept to the status quo. It wasn’t easy to concentrate though, knowing he was just a couple of feet away, knowing he was looking at me every chance he got. I found my mind wandering to the following weekend, what we’d do, where we’d go. I hoped I’d get the chance to meet his dad and brother properly, and that they would be OK with me. My mind wandered so far in fact that I didn’t hear the teacher calling my name. What I did hear was Erik, in my head.

  ‘Wake up, Sarah. You’re wanted!’

  I looked up at the teacher, stood arms crossed and brow furrowed.

  ‘Are you planning on joining us today, Miss Trent?’ he drawled in his us
ual patronizing manner.

  ‘Yes, sorry,’ I stammered.

  ‘So what is the answer?’

  Oh shit, I hadn’t even heard the question.

  ‘Phalanges, proximal, intermediate, and distal,’ Erik Whispered.

  ‘Yes. Sorry. Phalanges, the bones of the finger. Proximal, intermediate, and distal.’

  ‘Hmm. Right. Well, see you actually look as though you are paying attention in future. Understood?’

  ‘Of course. Yes, sir.’

  ‘Thank you.’ I stifled a smile, just in case anyone saw.

  This was really weird. When Erik had told me about his telepathic ability, I’d figured it was just with other Warlocks. I hadn’t for a moment suspected it was possible to do it with normal human beings. To be honest though, it was kind of cool. It was something about himself that he could share with me. I liked that. I liked that a lot.

  ‘So do I get your company at lunch?’ he Whispered.

  I just nodded and raised a smile. I’d just tell Kacey this was how it was, how it had to be. I was damn sure if she had a boyfriend, she wouldn’t think twice about me, she would just go off and do her own thing with him and sod the rest of us.

  Next class was Math. Erik was in an upper grade for this so couldn’t really get moved down a class; it would have raised too much suspicion. Not to mention how angry it would have made his dad.

  ‘Kacey.’ I pulled her to one side as we getting our books together. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I’m gonna sit with Erik at lunch.’

  ‘Why should I mind?’

  ‘Great. Thanks.’

  I left it at that, got my books and headed off for the canteen.

  Erik had already arrived when I got there and had got me a sandwich and a drink.

  ‘If you think this counts as taking me out for lunch, you’d better think again, mister.’

  I grinned, as I opened my juice.

  He smiled warmly leant over and kissed me lightly on the cheek. I could feel a rush of blood to my head. Oh, my God, I’m blushing, I thought as I tried to bury my face with my hair.