by Baker, Apryl
He’d better be back by tomorrow or at least call me.
“What’s going on in here?” Dad poked his head in. “I heard a thump.”
“Sorry, Dad,” I smiled. “I was just taking out some frustration.”
He glanced down and saw my journal. Without thinking he picked it up, his eyes skimming over what I’d written. He let out a hiss and came in, closing the door behind him before making his way over to my bed.
“What the hell is this, CJ?”
Ohh, so not good.
“Nothing.”
“Where did you see this?” he demanded, towering over me. His face had gone white and his eyes were wild with fear again. I shrank back from him, remembering the last time I’d seen that look in his eyes.
“In a dream,” I whispered. “A dream you took from me.”
All the anger fizzled out of him. He took a shaky breath and sat down. “How? How did you remember it?”
“Kay,” I told him, scooting to the other edge of the bed. “She was having the dream and I repeated the same spell you cast on me and Emily.”
His hands shook. “CJ…”
“Why, Dad, why did you take the dream from me?”
“Because it was a sign,” he whispered. “A sign of the curse.”
Oh crap.
“I thought if I could make you forget, no one would know. They wouldn’t have any more reasons to suspect…”
“Stop, Dad,” I whispered frantically. “Don’t. I know what will happen if you tell me. You’ll die, Daddy. I don’t want you to die.”
“It’ll be worth it, pumpkin, if it saves you.” He reached out, pulled me to him, and crushed me in a hug. “You’re my baby. I can’t let you die.”
Die? I was going to die? No. It didn’t matter. I did what I always did. I pushed the panic aside and focused. I could fall apart later. I was going to die…stop it! I needed to keep Dad from doing something rash.
“No, Daddy, please. How do you think that would make me feel for the rest of my life? Knowing I caused your death?”
“That’s a parent’s job, CJ, to protect their children. This is the only way left I can protect you.” His voice was gruff and hard. “I won’t fail you.”
“Emily,” I breathed. That’s what this was about. “Do you think you failed her, Dad?”
“I know I did.”
“Did you know what they were planning to do?” I asked. “Is that why you didn’t answer your phone that day?”
“What?” he pulled away and looked down at me, his eyes wide with shock.
“I found her diary, Dad. She was terrified. She wrote in her last entry they were coming for her and you weren’t answering your phone.”
“God, no, CJ. I’d left my phone in the truck. I had no idea she needed me. When I checked it later that night and found all the missed calls she’d made, I tried to call her back. By then it was too late. After her death, I suspected the Coven might have had a hand in it, but I didn’t have any proof. It’s why I quit. I didn’t want any part of something that may have caused my daughter’s death.
A weight lifted from my chest. He didn’t have anything to do with Emily’s death. “I’m pretty sure they killed her, Dad. I just can’t prove it either.”
“I’m going to tell you about the curse, CJ. I will save you.”
“No, we’ll find another way.”
“You’ll be eighteen at midnight, Cassie Jayne. There’s nothing I can do then.”
“Maybe you’re not supposed to do anything, Dad. Maybe I have to be the one to figure this out. Born to be the Coven leader, remember?”
He gasped. I’d shocked him. “How do you know that?”
“Jeff told me. He explained that all the stuff I can do is a sign of a true Coven leader.”
“Is that what you want, CJ?”
“Hell no. I don’t want any part of it, but maybe it’ll help me get through this.”
“Not if you don’t know what you’re doing,” he sighed. “I’ll help you.”
“Already covered, Dad. Jeff’s been helping me get caught up on basic magic and spelling for the last couple weeks.”
“Jeff?”
I nodded. “He’s been a really good friend through all this and the only one I really trust. He’s the only person who hasn’t lied to me about something.”
“Why couldn’t she have picked him for a boyfriend?” he grumbled under his breath.
I wish I knew, I thought silently. I wish I knew.
“Dad, can I ask you something?”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know, pumpkin.”
“In the dream, they were burned, but every other accused witch hanged. Why the difference?”
“The Coven made sure the accused were burned. You understand, CJ, that we practice witchcraft and not Wicca, yes?”
“Wicca is more of a religion with gods and goddesses. Witchcraft is different in that it’s pure magic, manipulating the Elements. We don’t need to pray to a god or goddess, but can if we need more…umph?”
“That’s a good way to put it. We do sometimes seek the aid of a deity, but normally we don’t. We don’t need to. True magic…”
“…is neither good nor bad, but a culmination of the two,” I finished for him. I’d read it in the first book I’d picked up on the subject. Wiccans were all about good magic for the most part. There weren’t any clear lines in witchcraft. Witches had no qualms about using black magic.
“The only true way to kill a witch, CJ, is to burn them. Even then, the ashes must be scattered. If they had hanged the witches, their spirits could have remained in their bodies and sought revenge. By burning them, there was no vessel for their spirits to return to. The ashes are scattered so that they cannot be used to give them a form to come back to. Their spirit can never be reborn to pass on the knowledge they possess either.”
“They turned them over to witch hunters and then made sure they couldn’t come back. No wonder they were all pissed.”
“Pissed?”
“In the dream, everyone was angry. They couldn’t believe the Coven would burn them. Now I understand why.”
“You’ve already seen it, Cassie Jayne. Let me tell you the rest.”
“No.”
“I will save you even if means giving up my life to do it.”
And I knew, looking into his eyes, that he would tell me. The determination to save my life at the cost of his own was written in his golden eyes.
“I bind thee, Roger Michael Bishop, from doing harm unto yourself,
You shall never speak nor write nor convey in any way the curse unto me.
Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, come unto me now.
Spirit, bind these Elements around him to prevent him from harming himself.”
“CJ, no…what did you do?” He looked horrified.
“I won’t let you die, Daddy.”
“Do you know what you’ve done?” His voice shook with fear. He stared at me much the same way Jeff had when I called the Elements to hide us that day at the Hall. I scared him.
“It’ll be fine, Dad.” Fine? Who was I kidding? I was set to die tomorrow night.
“No, it won’t. I will find a way to unbind this spell, Cassie Jayne. You can’t stop me from trying to save you.” He stood and left, a look of concentration on his face. This was not a fight he was going to give up, but he was my dad. It’s what dad’s were supposed to do. I just had to find a way to avoid him until this was over. He was a Coven Master. If anyone could find a way to unbind my spell, he could.
I tried not to panic. I couldn’t forget his saying I was going to die. The curse would kill me? My death would bring vengeance for the thirteen men and women betrayed that night so long ago? How could that make sense? They were avenging their deaths. Why would I need to die for that to happen?
Blood promise. The curse was a blood promise. I remembered that much. Maybe spilling my blood would keep whatever promise they made to the gods? Oh, so not gonna happen.
> Dammit, I needed Emily’s Book of Shadows. She’d figured everything out. Why couldn’t I find it? I didn’t want to die.
My phone went off to the tune of Fall Out Boy’s I Don’t Care. I reached for it and glanced at the text.
Meet me n the park 5 mins – E
Ethan? Ethan was home? And all I got was a text? He hadn’t even bothered to call me? Meet me in the park, my ass. He was gonna get a mouthful on boyfriend etiquette. I jerked on my UNC sweatshirt before running down the stairs and pulling on my coat. My mom was in the living room watching TV. Only the Fates knew where Dad was. I channeled my growing panic into the anger building inside. I’d much rather be mad than scared.
“Mom! I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back later!”
I escaped before she could ask questions. I walked to the park which took me ten minutes instead of five. I needed the time to prepare myself. I knew when I saw him, I’d lose some of my anger. I always did, but I refused to let him treat me like this. I had deserved at least a text before now. He’d said he loved me. That’s not how you treat someone you love.
I stopped when I saw him. He stood at the entrance to the park in front of an old Chevy pick-up. He was dressed in slacks and a red button down shirt. He seemed older somehow today, more mature. It was the clothes. They made him look more grown up. He looked like the man he would become. I forgot to breathe. I’d missed him so much. My heart swelled with love and all I wanted to do was wrap myself in his arms and feel how much we loved each other. Furious or not, I needed that right now.
His eyes watched me. I could feel the intensity of their stare even from here, a good ten feet away. It made me start to burn the way his kisses did and I took a deep breath. I never understood how he could make me feel like this. Damn, but I’d missed him.
He crooked his finger and beckoned me to come to him. I shook my head no. As much as I wanted to run to him, to feel his arms around me, I held onto the last vestiges of my anger.
After a minute, he shook his head and came to me. Gray eyes turned to molten silver and blazed with a heat that rivaled the memory of the flames on my skin as they stared into my own. I shivered in response and he grinned at the reaction, his dimples deepening. Curse the Fates, but he was making this hard. I clenched my hands into fists to keep them from going around his waist.
“You’re mad at me again.” His grin turned rueful.
“What makes you say that?” I asked, hating the tremor in my voice. Damned M&M.
“You look like you can’t decide if you want to hit me or if you want to kiss me,” he laughed and tried to kiss me.
I evaded him. “I do want to hit you.”
“Why?”
“Why? Seriously?”
He nodded and had the nerve to look confused.
“Ethan, you’ve been gone almost an entire week and not once did you even bother to call me. Nor did you think to send me a text or an email.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?” That’s all he had to say? Oh.
“I’m sorry?” he asked tentatively. “It’s not my fault. I didn’t have access to my phone or email while I was away.”
“Where on this planet can you go without access to a wi-fi connection?” I demanded.
“The mountains,” he answered promptly. “Mom was freaking out about my learning about this side of my heritage and flipped out a bit. Dad bundled us all up for a week in the mountains and away from the Coven to soothe her. There was no time to send you an email or voicemail. By the time I found out where we were going, I’d already lost all bars.”
“Okay, so let’s say I buy that nonsense. Why didn’t you call me the minute you were within the range of a cell tower?”
“Because I didn’t want to ruin your birthday surprise.”
Huh? Birthday surprise?
“It took me all day to get it set up. If I’d called, you’d have been after me to come see you and as much as I missed you, Cassie Jayne Bishop, it wouldn’t have taken much persuading on your part to get me to do just that. So, I didn’t call until everything was ready.”
“My birthday’s not till tomorrow.” He planned a surprise? That was so sweet. And I knew for a fact you couldn’t get a signal deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Kay, Jeff, Billy and I had gone backpacking in West Virginia over the summer. We hadn’t been able to get cell service until we hit I-77 in Wythville, VA.
“I know. Kay has a huge party planned and besides, your birthday is in exactly four hours and twenty nine minutes,” he corrected me. “Midnight.”
“Well if you want to be technical, I wasn’t born until thirteen minutes after…” Thirteen minutes. There it was again. Thirteenth daughter, born thirteen minutes past the hour. But so was Kay. She could be the thirteenth daughter, too, I reminded myself. Either way, I was worried. I had to save one or the other of us.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Absolutely nothing,” I lied and did what I wanted to do. I wrapped my arms around him and was rewarded by the feel of his pulling me close.
“So am I forgiven?” he teased.
“Depends on the surprise. A week is a long time.”
His lips brushed the top of my forehead. “Trust me, Cassie, it’s worth it.”
I tilted my head back so I could look up at him. “That has yet to be seen, Mr. Warren.”
His sexy smile reappeared. “You won’t be disappointed, Miss Bishop, I promise.” He kissed me and I was lost. It was one of those slow, lazy kisses that turned my mind to mush and all I could think about was fire blazing to life and running through every nerve ending in my body.
When he pulled away this time, I could see the effort it cost him. His eyes were glowing sliver and his breath came out in short, heavy gasps. He took several deep breaths before he was able to uncurl his fingers from around my arms.
“Miss me much?” I laughed. It wasn’t often I saw him lose control.
“More than you know,” he grinned. “Come on, let’s go.”
After we were buckled up and on the road, I asked him where we were going.
“The lake,” he told me. “There’s a small piece of land on the very western edge that has an old cabin on it.”
“I didn’t know you had a boat.”
“I don’t,” he agreed. “I borrowed Billy’s. What did you do to make him so pissed anyway? I almost thought he wasn’t going to let me borrow it.”
“It’s a long story and not one I want to get into right now.” Just as I suspected, Jeff was right. Billy wouldn’t do anything to make Kay mad at him again. “So what kind of surprise is it?”
“That’s the whole point of a surprise, Cassie,” he laughed. “It’s a surprise.”
“Just a little hint?”
“Nope.”
“Dammit.”
He winked.
Ten minutes later we were on board Billy’s smaller boat, Mystery, and headed out onto the water. I was glad of the sweatshirt I’d pulled on over my tee. It was freezing. It had been years since it was this cold in October. The last time I could remember it getting this cold so early was when I was eight and we got a foot of snow dumped on us.
“Cold?” he asked after a while and threw me a blanket.
“How much farther?” I asked through chattering teeth.
“About five more minutes.”
True to his word, five minutes later we pulled up to an old abandoned dock. He tied off the lines and helped me down from the boat. I practically ran to the cabin. I could see a fire blazing inside and I was freezing.
Throwing open the door, I stopped and stared. OH. MY. GOD.
Daisies filled every surface I could see. A table had been set up in front of the fireplace and two plates were waiting, silver lids covering the delights underneath. Candles of every shape and size cast off a soft light. It was beautiful. He really had worked hard on this surprise. I walked over to the table and fingered the lone white rose that lay there.
“Do you know what the white rose stand
s for?” he whispered from behind me.
“No,” I shook my head.
He turned me around and tipped my head up so he could look at me. “I could have given you the red rose for passion, the yellow rose for friendship, or the pink rose for love, but instead I chose one that meant all of those things and more. The white rose stands for commitment. You belong to me, Cassie Jayne Bishop, now and forever, just as I belong to you.”
I didn’t try to hold the tears back. He could have done so many things, but this…this meant more to me than he would ever know. He’d given me his heart, his soul, and his life.
He trailed butterfly kisses down my cheek, tasting my tears. He nibbled at my lips before continuing on to my throat. He found the pulse point and nipped it. “My Cassie,” he whispered.
My coat hit the floor and he pulled the sweatshirt over my head. He smiled at finding another shirt to hinder him. “Nothing is ever easy with you is it?”
I gasped as his teeth scraped over my throat. His lips found their way to mine once more. Sensation after sensation ran through me. His kiss deepened, his lips demanding full and total surrender. He didn’t have to ask twice. My arms went around his neck, one hand tangling in the soft strands of his hair. I pressed myself closer, an urgent need building that felt like it would burst at any minute.
He broke the kiss long enough to pull my tee shirt off and unhook my bra. His gaze sent a blaze of heat across my skin and I could feel the blush rising. He pulled me back into his arms and his lips overwhelmed me. His hands were everywhere and I sensed rather than felt us moving backwards. My knees hit the bed and he came down with me.
That was my last coherent thought.
Chapter Twenty Four
Nervousness and panic took turns upsetting my stomach all day. Tonight was the night. The big birthday party. The night I was scheduled to die. Dad kept trying to find a way to tell me. I ran every time I saw him coming. He even sent me a text threatening to tie me to a chair and force me to listen. Well, he’d have to undo my binding spell first and then catch me. He wasn’t that fast anymore.
