by Sean Stone
“This is on all of you,” he said, pointing at Holly’s body. “If you had answered my call, if you had obeyed an instruction from your dynast then this could have been avoided.”
“We didn’t even know she was missing,” a woman in the front row said.
“You would have found out if you’d fucking come when I called last night!” Adam screamed and the woman flinched away from him, several other people in the front row recoiled as well. “One of our own was kidnapped and sacrificed and none of you did a damn thing to help her. What kind of a coven is this that doesn’t even protect its own?” Adam asked. Nothing but silence. “Does nobody have anything to say? If this is how we work as a coven then you needn’t have come back from wherever you were all hiding for 30 years.”
“Oh, enough with the melodrama,” Genevieve said as she stood up, a tired expression on her face. “Even if the entire coven had come running like the loyal puppy dogs you expect us to be, we could not have stopped this.” She stepped into the aisle and slowly made her way toward Adam as she spoke. “This was not the work of some mere warlock, this was the work of the Thirteen. This was the work of Nickolas Blackwood. What would you have had us do?” she stopped halfway up the aisle. The rest of the coven was silent. Watching. Adam knew that he had to be careful how he dealt with Genevieve; if he let his temper get the better of him then she’d show him up and his time as dynast would be over.
“Look around Genevieve. How many people do you see in this room? How many sorcerers? I’ll answer for you, thirty-four. That’s thirty-four versus thirteen, I think those odds are in our favour,” Adam practically spat the words at her.
“Do you remember Benjamin Larcen? I never had the misfortune of meeting the man so do correct me if I get any of the facts wrong. Benjamin had the power of an entire coven and then some. He took all that power into a fight against Nickolas Blackwood. One on one, man to man and do you know what happened?” Genevieve spoke as though she was educating a child.
“Yes,” Adam hissed quietly. She was winning. He had to find a way to flip it back on her.
“There’s no way of knowing for certain what happened, but what I do know for a fact is that Benjamin’s body was found several feet away from his head under a pile of rubble. Nickolas Blackwood, on the other hand, lives comfortably in a rather lavish house right here in this very town. So, who’s favour are the odds in really?” she said and there were murmurs of agreement from the coven.
“We should have tried,” he said feebly.
“We would have died,” Genevieve shot back.
“We would have died with honour, at least,” Toni said, coming to stand by Adam’s side. “Instead, we’re alive and look at us. A bunch of cowards. I’ll give you credit Gen, at least you’re standing up and speaking up. The rest of you need to grow a pair and learn where your mouths are. Sitting there, like children, too frightened to speak.”
“Is this how a dynast's number two should behave? Berating the coven?” Genevieve asked. At least she was admitting that Adam was dynast. Adam had never considered that Toni was his number two before. She’d just fallen into the role rather than being appointed the position.
“When the need arises yes,” Adam said. He took a deep breath in and then let it out again. “I want to put this business behind us and talk about the future now. It is foolish of us to think that we can just leave the Thirteen up to their own devices in town. We need to do something before more of us end up dead.”
“We are already fighting a war with the werewolves,” Genevieve said, still not moving from the aisle.
“Then we’ll find a way to make peace with them,” Adam replied.
“I hope you don’t intend to give up Wandworth,” she said threateningly.
“No, I don’t.” Even though that would be the quickest way to make peace he knew that it would also be the quickest way to give his position to Genevieve. Wandworth was a sacred land to the coven and he had to secure it for them.
“I think we should talk about something else,” a man said. He stood up in the centre of the seating area and Adam recognised him as Brent Higgins, an idiot by anyone’s standards. “I think we should talk about the fact that you came to a lot of our homes and asked us to give you our power.”
Genevieve looked at Adam with mock horror, she already knew about the dynast ritual and had put Brent up to his outburst, that was obvious. It suddenly dawned on him that the only reason Genevieve had come tonight was to drive the final nail in. This was her play to take control of the coven. He and Toni had been sneaking around trying to enact a secret plan and she’d been doing the same.
“I asked you to take part in the dynast ritual, it is a tradition-”
“From the middle ages,” Genevieve interrupted. “It is an archaic practice that hasn’t been used for centuries and for good reason. Are you that desperate for power that you sought to steal it from your own coven? I heard that you hard a bit of a fascination with warlocks, you’ve even started an exhibition on Henry Montford.” There were gasps around the room. “Yes I know, Montford, the warlock who plagued this very coven.”
“It’s research you stupid woman,” Adam seethed.
“Looking at you now, Adam, I can hardly tell you from Henry. You’re both so hungry for the power of this coven. So desperate for it.”
“How dare you,” Toni said, but even she knew the fight was lost.
“Perhaps this coven needs a change in leadership,” Genevieve said and Adam wasn’t in the least bit surprised. “Who here agrees?”
She looked around the room and whilst there were murmurings nobody stood up or even raised a hand.
“That seems a bit drastic,” one woman said. “Clara Winters appointed him her replacement.” Adam could have kissed that woman right then. He’d have to make the effort to learn her name. Although, when Clara had told Adam to lead the coven she wasn’t actually appointing him dynast, it was more of an off-hand comment.
“She cannot do that,” Genevieve said quickly.
“I’d like a new leader. Genevieve should be dynast,” Brent said stupidly and just like that Genevieve’s case was lost. He’d tried to push the point too hard. He should have let them come up with the idea themselves.
“Let’s not be hasty,” Marlon said from somewhere near the back. He was one of the few who’d actually agreed to the dynast ritual. “Adam is dynast and so far he hasn’t done anything wrong. Give him another chance I say.” People voiced agreement with Marlon, not because they liked Adam but because they respected Marlon. He’d been part of the coven from birth. Many of them had left the town following him and when the curse was broken it was him who led them back.
“Very well. But you are on your last chance, Mr Kent,” Genevieve declared and then stormed from the room. Elizabeth scurried after her.
Adam didn’t bother pushing the matter of the Thirteen any further, he decided it was wise to call it a night whilst he was just about winning. He adjourned the meeting and said he’d call them back once he had a plan for the future. He knew he had limited time before Genevieve attacked again and he needed to prepare for that. He’d been lucky tonight, pure and simple, and whatever she had planned next he knew that it would not be anywhere near as easy to beat her.
“Maybe I should just give up,” Adam said as he slumped into a chair after everybody had left. Only Toni remained.
“Don’t be stupid, if you give up then Genevieve will take over the coven,” Toni argued. She started stacking the chairs at the edge of the room. They still had to get rid of Holly’s body — Adam had no idea how they were going to do that. The best thing to do was to call William he supposed. He should probably report the crime anyway.
“That might not be such a bad thing. She’d probably do a better job than me,” he said and feeling obligated to help he got up and started stacking chairs too.
“She’d go into full battle mode with the pack and half the coven would probably end up dead,” Toni said dramatically. She
had a good point, though, all Genevieve seemed to care about was fighting the wolves, not once had she shown even the slightest interest in anything else.
“Would she have let Nick sacrifice Holly, though?” Adam asked.
Toni stopped what she was doing and looked at him with a pitying expression. “She didn’t come when you called the coven together last night, so what does that tell you? And you didn’t let Nickolas sacrifice Holly. You did everything you could to help her,” Toni insisted.
“I failed her.”
“The coven failed her. You called them to help and they ignored you,” she said.
“Exactly. They ignored me. So, what use is it clinging onto being dynast? They won’t follow my instructions, I’m not in charge any more than Genevieve is,” he said as he stacked the last of the chairs.
“So make them follow your instructions,” Toni’s tone was serious.
“How?” Adam shrugged.
“Genevieve will come at you again and when she does you have to win. No shaky victories like today's, you need to beat her so there’s no doubt in anyone’s minds.”
“Yes, but the only way to beat her completely is if I know what she’s planning to do so I can prepare,” said Adam. It was all well and good coming up with a plan to show strength and win the confidence of the coven but it was pointless if there was no way to actually execute the plan.
“We just need somebody close to the old bat. Somebody who knows what she’s planning. Elizabeth,” Toni explained.
“Elizabeth,” Adam repeated. She was the ideal candidate; it was quite clear that Elizabeth didn’t enjoy being a part of her mother’s schemes but she went along with it anyway. Why? Fear? Loyalty? Either one would be difficult to break.
“Do we really have time to be plotting things like this? We still have to deal with the Thirteen and the pack,” said Adam.
“Well if we don’t plot then neither the Thirteen nor the pack will be our problem to deal with for much longer,” Toni said quite rightly. “Now stop this pathetic self-pitying routine and act like a leader.”
“Alright,” Adam said. “I don’t know where I’d be without you.” He gave her a light pat on the shoulder and before he knew what was happening she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He pulled away instantly, purely on reflex, still not sure what was happening.
“I’m sorry,” Toni said at once, stepping back, her face reddening. “I thought…”
“Toni I…” The words just wouldn’t come, he didn’t know what to say. “Nicole…” he started but still couldn’t finish a sentence.
Toni nodded, keeping her eyes down. “I understand. It was stupid to do that.”
“I’m sorry Toni. I’m married,” he said as his mind cleared enough for him to speak again.
“I know,” her voice cracked as she spoke and then she hurried out of the room. Adam was sure that she was crying. It seemed that everything that could go wrong was intent on going wrong for him. It wasn’t that Adam didn’t want to kiss Toni because he did. He’d grown fond of her over the months she’d been in town, but he was still married. Nicole was his wife and no matter how much of a bitch she was to him he wouldn’t betray her. He still had hope that he could fix their marriage, but that hope would disappear the moment he let anything happen with Toni.
He sighed loudly and then pulled out his phone to call William.
*
CHAPTER TWELVE
Katrina had a few things to take care of during the day, so Clara had to wait until she was finished. Bianca still didn’t trust Clara not to do something stupid and refused to leave her side all day, except when she went to the toilet. Clara had no plans to do anything other than wait for Katrina to finish. She made sure to stay at home so as not to draw any attention from Jamal, she was surprised that he hadn’t popped up when she’d gone to Wiccan Wares, or at any other point during the day. He either wasn’t tracking her as vigilantly as she had believed or he was too busy to keep an eye on her today.
It was early afternoon when Katrina was ready for them and they returned to the shop. Once again, Katrina took Clara and Bianca through to the back room and began making tea. Clara was again surprised by how deftly she managed to move around. She knew where each item was and didn’t spill a drop of tea as she made the drink.
“Are we doing it here? Wouldn’t it be better to do it at my house or the labs?” Clara asked as they sat down in the same seats they’d sat in earlier. She assumed that they should try to contact Arthur at a location where he spent a lot of his time when living.
“Here will be fine,” said Katrina. As she brought the tea to the table Clara noticed there was only one cup. Perhaps they were going to share, or maybe it wasn’t for drinking, maybe it was some sort of fragrance thing.
“I thought these things happened at night?” Bianca said as Katrina began sprinkling some herbs into the tea.
“Only in the movies.” Katrina pushed the bowl of herbs aside and then began pouring what looked like gravel into the cup followed by a sand like substance. Clara wrinkled her nose but couldn’t stop looking as Katrina shovelled more and more bizarre ingredients into the cup. Quite a pungent smell was starting to arise from the cup and Clara was fairly certain that it was just for fragrance.
“Am I really going to speak to my dad?” Clara asked. She hadn’t let herself think about it too much throughout the day, she still didn’t believe that it was actually going to happen. She could believe in witches and werewolves and vampires, but talking to the dead just seemed a stretch too far.
“Hopefully.” Katrina opened a drawer on her side of the coffee table and pulled out a stick of incense and placed it in the holder on the table before lighting it.
“What’s that for?” Clara asked.
“It creates a tranquil scent,” Katrina replied.
“I thought the tea was for the smell?” Clara asked, starting to worry about what the tea was for.
“Don’t be silly, the tea is for you to drink,” Katrina said, confirming Clara’s suspicions.
“Just me?” Clara asked, there were three of them taking part in the séance, and she really didn’t want to consume that cup full of nastiness.
“That’s right.”
“How will you guys join in without the tea?” If Clara had to drink it then they should have to as well. It didn’t seem fair.
“We won’t be joining in, it’s only going to be you. You are the one who must resolve your issues, not us,” Katrina said gently.
“But how will you summon my dad?” Clara was getting more confused as the conversation went on.
“I’m not going to summon him. Calling the dead to cross between realms is dangerous, they may not want to return to where they belong, and even if they do they may not be able to. It’s a risky business and it’s very common for things to go wrong. So, instead of calling Arthur to us we are going to send you to meet him,” Katrina said as if it was a simple thing.
“You’re sending me into what, the spirit world?” Clara asked. That wasn’t what she’d prepared for and frankly she didn’t want to go there.
“Sending the living to the realm of the dead is just as dangerous as bringing the dead here. The same complications apply. No, I’m not sending you there, I’m going to have you and your father meet half way. I’ll summon him to you once you are there. That way when the meeting is done you can both return to your respective realms. No crossovers.”
“Okay,” Clara said, nodding as if that would make it seem alright. The halfway idea was better than going into the underworld — or whatever it was — but it still wasn’t ideal.
“You’ll go into a temporary realm when the séance begins. It may be a familiar place to you, or may be completely new. It will be a creation of your own mind. You need to be careful and you need to remember that whatever place it looks like, it is not that place. Do not get too comfortable and do not stay too long. The realm is temporary remember, which means that it will not last and if that place disin
tegrates whilst you are still there then I have no idea where you might end up.”
“Alright,” Clara nodded. She hoped the terror she was feeling wasn’t showing on her face — not that Katrina would be able to see it.
“One more thing to be cautious of. I will do my best to secure this place that you are going to, but that does not mean others will not be able to break through. Should you encounter anybody else then your best course of action would be to ignore them. If you find yourself in danger, then leave immediately.”
“How do I leave?”
“Think of me and I’ll try and pull you out. Now, drink this,” Katrina said and passed Clara the cup. Clara looked at Bianca for some sort of help but Bianca simply shrugged. Clara took the cup in both hands and raised it to her lips. The taste was even worse than the smell, it was like putting a dirty nappy in her mouth. The liquid was thick and didn’t go down easily, like drinking tar, and what made it worse was the fact that the cup seemed to have no bottom, the tea — not that tasted like any tea Clara had ever drunk before — went on forever. She finally finished the fluid and reached out to place the cup back on the table. As she did so she felt her arms growing heavy and her eyelids began to close. Before she managed to put the cup down the room had disappeared.
At first, she saw nothing. Only darkness. But that quickly changed. Out of the darkness come swirls of colour, shooting about in every direction. Spinning around and above her. The colours stopped moving and from their random positions stretched out to form walls, doors and furniture. It wasn’t long until a room had appeared around her. One she recognised. She’d expected to be at home or in her new office at the labs, but she was not in either of those places. Clara was at the police station, she recognised the plain cream walls and the white linoleum floors. Only she wasn’t there, not really, she could tell because nobody else was there with her and there was always somebody in the station. Katrina had said that her mind would create the location and it was quite clear that she had chosen a place in which she always felt safe. She was sitting at her own desk in the SIT offices. Her desk was in the middle of the room facing the door to William’s office. The door was closed and somehow she knew that behind that door was her father. In this place that she had created, she’d shut him away until she was ready to go to him. But could he come out of his own accord, or was he trapped inside?
