Immortal Hexes

by Hutchins, Amelia

  She withdrew her earbuds and stared up at me as she slowly rose from her chair, defensive as she felt the same thing churning through me. “How the hell did you do that?” she demanded with wide, panicked eyes.

  “Blood of my blood, come to me,” I whispered again, watching her body jerk forward as she struggled to fight it. “Daughter of mine, I command you to heed my words, come to me.” It was the words my mother had used on me when I refused her or ignored an order. She started moving, and everything inside of me broke open as the last of the bond slipped around my heart, telling me she was mine. A sob escaped my lips and Conner moved to me, wrapping me in his arms from behind as he stared over my head while our daughter walked up the staircase to us with an irritated glare.

  “Hope Halverson, meet your mother,” he whispered over my head. “Avery Cheveron, one of the oldest and most powerful witches alive in the entire world.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t know who my mother was. I look nothing like this one. Maybe we should get your ancient ass some glasses, Conner.”

  “Language, ladies do not cuss unless the situation calls for it,” I whispered, and she stared at me pointedly.

  “I don’t fucking…” her mouth shut as I whispered the words in my mind.

  “I do not care for swearing among ladies when we are having a civilized conversation. Should the need arise to swear, we will both do it. Now, I am Avery Cheveron,” I said as I pulled myself together while my eyes burned with unshed tears. “I am your mother. You carry my blood in your veins. The spell I spoke, it only works on direct descendants of my line, which I assure you, you are, as there are only two Cheveron witches alive who could have carried you, but only one was sleeping with a vampire with those pretty violet eyes you inherited.”

  “Then maybe you can explain why you ditched me, why you never cared to stick around, so someone knew who I was.”

  “I didn’t ditch you, Hope. You were taken from me before I ever knew you were alive. I just found out that you existed five minutes ago when they told me right outside of those doors. I never knew I was even pregnant with you. God above, I wanted you before that, but life isn’t easy. It doesn’t give you what you want; it gives you what you need. Normally at the wrong time, or for reasons we don’t understand, but stronger forces are normally driving us to what we need. Rosemary,” I said as I stared at her and then down at the grimoire that had revealed the next ingredients she would need to work her spell.

  “What?” she asked as she chewed her gum and popped a bubble on purpose, staring at me. I eyed Conner, wondering what he allowed her to do since he’d hidden her from the world. She seemed young, but I knew differently.

  “She’s been very sheltered, and I probably shouldn’t have allowed her endless YouTube use, but she had limited options in this age.” He shrugged as she popped another bubble, which drew his eyes to her with ire. She was popping the bubbles because it angered her father. I almost laughed, but the pain in my chest was real, the tightening around my heart as I stared at her profile grew worse by the moment, and I knew I was about to make an ass of myself by crying in front of her.

  “The spell you are working on calls for rosemary, but not any rosemary. It needs to be blessed by the moon and the sun. You are using another witch’s grimoire as well, which is dangerous as it carries the taint of the last witch who used it. Can I assist you in the spell?” I asked with nervousness that I shouldn’t feel, but did, and she stared at me for a moment. My favorite time of childhood had been with my mother, learning her craft with her. I’d had that time stolen from me with Hope, and I could teach her more than any other witch alive if she wanted me to, and I prayed she did.

  “I guess that would be okay,” she shrugged as she spoke. “I don’t get many witches down here other than Luca, and he doesn’t think I should be learning certain spells. I enjoy the craft, but I’m aware of it being something someone should be taught correctly.” She pulled out the gum and watched me with the same wariness I felt. “Are you doing this because you want to, or because you feel obligated?” she asked.

  “I really want to teach you,” I whispered. “My mother taught me for a time, but then she was unable to teach me more. I wish to teach you as she did me.”

  “And if I ask you to teach a certain spell that Luca said shouldn’t be done, would you?” she countered.

  “Such as?” I asked as I followed her down the stairs, feeling Conner’s eyes on us.

  “I wanted to make a boyfriend, but he wouldn’t give me a corpse to reanimate. I’m two hundred four years old and have never been kissed before. I’ve been hidden from everyone, it makes dating kind of hard, and a girl has needs.”

  I choked on the air at her words. “Luca is correct on that one. That’s some pretty hairy stuff that is against the laws of the universe and carries a very high cost to use. You don’t want to mess with necromancy, not in a mansion full of the undead. I mean, it’s a pretty dangerous spell.” She hadn’t been kissed? It explained her immature attitude and attire, but also her defensive attitude towards me. She feared rejection or what we would think of her, but if she’d been hidden away from the world, alone, it made sense.

  “I’m a pretty powerful witch,” she said softly, staring at me as we reached the grimoire.

  “You would be, as you carry my bloodline and I am the granddaughter of Hecate.”

  “Really? Oh, my Gods that is unheard of! That means if I am your daughter, I have it too! I’ve read so much about her down here, she’s amazing, and we’re from the same bloodline, are you sure?” Her wide eyes showed her excitement, and my heart flooded with warmth as I struggled to speak past the tightness of my throat.

  “Yes, I’m very sure of it. It also means you shouldn’t bring back dead things to date. I will be getting you out of here and into the world soon enough that dating won’t be a problem,” I informed as I gave Conner a sideways glance to see if he would argue it. “There are rules we follow, rules meant to protect us. What is dead should always remain dead unless they’re undead.”

  “I’m guessing you weren’t really into rules, considering I exist.” She watched me as my lips twitched. I gave in to the urge and smiled, watching as her eyes widened. “I have your smile and dimples.”

  I stared her mouth and swallowed hard as I nodded, then she smiled to show me. “So you do, but you look an awful lot like my mother. Your eyes, of course, came from your father, which should have told him whom you belonged to a long time ago. Your hair isn’t the same shade as his though. My mother had black-blue curls that she could never tame and more often than not, wore them like yours is now. She had this perfect heart-shaped face that I wish I had been blessed with, and she was fierce and so strong of mind that I thought she could rule the world had she put her mind to it. She was kind, and the strongest witch I had ever met, and still have yet to meet one who matches or comes close to what she had. She was more powerful than I was, and I wished to be like her when I grew up.”

  “What happened to her? If you’re immortal, why isn’t she? Did she die?”

  “She died of the plague trying to save humans from the sickness that killed thousands of them before anyone knew what it was. Before we knew or understood the sickness that killed them, we went into a sick house and were infected with the plague.”

  “I’m sorry, that had to suck,” she said as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and considered her words carefully before she spoke again. “Weren’t you in a coven with her? If she went in, why didn’t you go too? Aren’t covens supposed to do everything together as one?”

  “I did go in with my mother, my entire coven did. One by one, I watched them die, and then I burned them and gave their souls back to the leyline from which they were created. That is how I met your father; he saved me. He brought me back to life, and we created you together.”

  “And you lived
happily ever after?” she snorted sarcastically, knowing it was anything but a happy ending, all things considered.

  “For a while, it was a fairytale, and there were beautiful things we shared, then I was tortured, ripped apart by an entire hive of vampires, including your grandfather, the King of the England Vampires, and I survived until I ended up here again, prisoner to your father. Now here we are together again,” I said, clapping my hands together.

  “I think I’m going to need some vodka and popcorn and the rest of that story to understand how we ended up at this point. Did you say my father held you as his prisoner? No wonder he pled the fifth about who my mother was. I need the tea, so spill it.”

  “I don’t have tea?” I said as she smiled wide and shook her head with a cheesy grin on her face.

  “Addison taught me that tea means drama or secrets. Really, I’d love to hear the truth of what happened, and how you lost me. I’ve longed for a mother and father, but I never dared even dream I had them. Auntie Addison taught me a lot of stuff, like how to get drunk, or how to kill someone three hundred different ways from Sunday, but you’re my mother and my father, and I know we just met, but I feel you inside of me. I’d like to know more about you both.”

  “Sit with me, and I will clear up what I can, but it isn’t a pretty story, Hope. It’s dark, and not entirely something that even we fully comprehend, yet,” I said as Conner came to my side, and I felt his uncertainty. I turned, staring at him as something inside of me heated, and the reality of what stood before me really hit me. We’d created life; a life that was forbidden by the covenant, and they’d come for her. He reached for my hand, slipping his fingers through mine as he brought it to his mouth and placed a soft kiss against the back of it. The panic seemed to be swallowing me, even with his hand holding me and giving me strength. We’d broken the covenant, and the penalty would be her death.

  “Not with us at her side, imp,” he said confidently. “I’d rip their throats out as you melted their flesh from their bones. Our daughter will never know pain as you did, and she will never face persecution under their laws.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.” Her words registered in my mind as I turned, staring into her pretty blue-violet eyes with a fierce need to protect her from the world. No wonder he’d kept her hidden, even from me.

  “They’ll come for her.” My tone was soft, yet tight as everything inside of me fought to be unleashed to keep her safe from the outside world.

  “They don’t know she’s even alive. Only those at the trial heard Hemlock, and most think he was insane.”

  “They already know,” I whispered. “And they’re coming.”

  Chapter 20

  I stood inside of the academy’s main hall where we fed the students during the day and then trained at night to avoid the vampires. Today, there was a chill in the air, a bad omen that something was coming. The last time I’d felt it, I’d ignored it and ended up as Conner’s prisoner. Today was different; today he stood beside me as I placed the crystal quartz around the room, preparing a spell to make the entire school vanish to anyone who looked for it with the intent to do harm. Hope was with me, her eyes wild with wonder as she took in the witches who worked as one, helping me with the magic I used. She was a sponge for knowledge, and I almost hated Luca for having been her first instructor, but he’d gladly stepped aside and was now learning my spells with us.

  I had a daughter, one who looked like her father. I’d joked with Conner about him missing it since she was her father’s daughter. Her black-blue hair clung in lovely waves today, falling just short of her ruffled skirt and shirt that said Anarchy in red, with droplets of what I assumed was blood dripping from the scrawled A. Her heels clicked along the floor as we watched her. She was vibrant and unafraid of the outside world that viewed her as they had once viewed me, a rarity and one-of-a-kind creature.

  “I can’t believe you’re a mother,” Laura whispered in a hushed tone beside me as she took in the beautiful girl who explored with her wide, violet-blue eyes searching the entire school for anything and everything.

  “Me either, but I feel her. The moment I whispered the bloodline spell, I felt her within me, as if she was a part of me. She’s powerful, scarily so. Young though, probably because she’s been sheltered for so long,” I said with a shrug. “We will teach her what she needs to know, as family is supposed to do.”

  “That is something we can worry about after we’ve made it clear that our daughter is not to be touched nor hunted by either race. I have sent a message to the Vampires that live in the Cascades in Western Washington. Brandt has agreed that he will back us and protect her should others come to argue it. He will stand with us should we need him. I don’t think it will be needed, but I’m not sure how many will come to argue her life. My question is this: how the fuck did they know she existed? I’ve kept her a secret since the moment her pretty little eyes turned red,” Conner said.

  “It was a spell; that must have been what was unleashed when you killed Hemlock. I felt it, but I wasn’t sure what it was at the time. I’m guessing Hemlock put something into place in case she had survived the hive’s death. He more than likely had something in place in case he died prematurely to let the world know what we had done. It’s like a death note, one that releases upon their death,” I said as we started towards the door with the others following closely behind us. Outside, the sky was foreboding, gray, and filled with a starless night.

  “Hope is a hybrid Cheveron witch. She is a born vampire, to one of the few lines who can still birth them. This will draw them to her, but it will also give them pause before they try to destroy her. She’s as powerful as you are, Avery, and as strong as Conner. She can and will handle herself against those who seek to harm her. You made a hybrid.” Addison looked at us pointedly, as if we should be proud even though her words said the opposite. I almost wanted to hate her for having taught my daughter anything, but I was glad Hope had someone to teach her.

  I stared at Addison, realizing she wasn’t wrong with what she said. We had created a one-of-a-kind child who held power from both of us. My head tilted as I listened to the tune of the magical song that danced on the wind, as if the entire area was protected by wind chimes. They were closer to us than we expected.

  “We must go, now,” I uttered as I moved towards where Hope stood. “Hope, it’s time to go.”

  “We shouldn’t run,” she said, stopping me short of reaching her.

  “We’re not running. We are preparing to face them,” I replied. I couldn’t explain to her that a strategic battle plan was better than a half-assed one, we didn’t have time. I opened my mouth to speak as a bolt of magic sliced through the air, aimed at Hope. I moved, taking her to the ground with me as I shielded her with my body. “Stay down.”

  “No, they just tried to kill me!” she seethed and pushed at me, her magic rearing to life as if she held it shielded as I had. Her eyes turned crimson, while her fangs lengthened with her anger.

  “Blood of my blood, stay down and go to your father,” I growled and let my power radiate through the clearing. Her eyes widened as I stood, letting every ounce of power I controlled fill the air around us. Static raised the hair of the coven members who stood closest to me as Laura moved into place beside me, letting her magic skim against mine while they combined and, one by one, the coven gave us their strength and we stood, facing the witches that threatened my daughter and all of us. Crystals of all color glowed around the field as the witches entered it, staring at us through a hatred born of fear of the unknown. Prejudiced bitches needed to get into this century already.

  “Avery Cheveron, you are charged with treason and the murder of Roger,” Margaret hissed as she pulled her power around her. Her hands glowed with immense power, poised to throw it towards us should the need arise. “You also broke the laws of your time, creating a monster that should never have
breathed her first breath.”

  “Did you just call my daughter a monster?” I asked as I smiled at her coldly. “I’d be cautious with your next words, Johor,” I uttered, using her surname and line in disdain.

  “I am two hundred years old; when you speak my name, you will say it with the respect I deserve. I am the highest-ranking member of the coven in the entire state of Washington. I am more powerful than any other around these mountains.”

  “Except for the three Cheveron witches before you, that may be true. However, seniority goes by age, does it not? A Queen is chosen by her power and age, and I am the oldest witch present.” I watched her, letting my words sink in while her anger rose.