by Lucy True
“But if we hunt down the circle’s origin, we’ll get everything back to normal for you and you won’t have to worry about using your true talents.”
“Hunt?” Burgundy couldn’t help but envision Martha stalking through the forest, dressed in deerskins, carrying a bow and arrow as she stalked the ferocious magick circle with only her wits to pro—
“Young lady, pay attention!” the Amazon scolded.
Burgundy pushed herself to her feet and brushed the dirt off the back of her jeans. “I am. Sometimes, my brain goes in directions it shouldn’t. So where are we going to find the origin of this circle and won’t they know if we take it out? I mean, maybe they want me to destroy it, so they can confirm whatever they suspect. Doesn’t sound like a smart idea, now that I actually said it out loud.”
She nibbled at her lower lip and caught Martha doing the same. Only briefly, however, because the Amazon lifted her chin, squared her shoulders, and said, “If I do it, though, then you won’t draw attention to yourself.”
“No. No way. I’m not going to let you risk yourself on my behalf. You don’t need the Finders up in arms, mad at you.” This was exactly what Burgundy had hoped to avoid – people putting themselves in harm’s way on her behalf. The very thought of Martha crossing the Witches Council made her stomach churn.
Martha folded her arms and thrust one hip out to the side. “They govern magick-users. Not other races. If they think they’re going to come after an Amazon, then they’ll have an entire sisterhood to reckon with. Not that I wouldn’t love to see them try. That’d be pretty funny. Anyway, don’t worry about me. You might not be one of my kind, but you’re a sister nonetheless. One of the few I have in this town, so let me do this for you. In return, promise me you’ll learn everything you can about what you are. Reach for the potential I know is in there.”
The air shuddered through Burgundy’s lungs as she gulped in a breath. She’d never heard Martha talk like this. That sense of safety she’d enjoyed throughout her childhood no longer surrounded her. Instead, her skin prickled with unease when she nodded.
“If I don’t declare my path on my birthday, they’ll know for sure.”
“Yes, and your aunt wants you to relegate yourself to being useless. To being half the witch your mother is, instead of the full warlock you could become. Here’s the thing: if that’s really what you want to do, I won’t stop you. But if you’re ready to break free of this illusion of safety that your aunt and mother have constructed around you, then tell me now and that circle will be gone.”
Burgundy drew in another ragged breath, fists clenched at her sides. Just one word could free her.
While damning her entire town in the process.
An impossible choice with consequences she hated to imagine, but only one answer she could give. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Eleven
Everything around her shattered as if something had crashed into her world and glass rained down from the sky.
Burgundy sat upright in bed, sucking in a lungful of air, along with jagged shards. In the blink of an eye, she saw that there were no slivers of glass coating her skin and hair, that everything had shifted back into brilliant focus, something she’d missed without knowing it until Jenna took her out of town.
Sometime in the night, while she slept, Martha must have dismantled the components of the various spells layered over Rock Grove and broken the nullifying circle.
Golden shafts of sunlight already illuminated her room and Burgundy thrust the covers off her so she could go to the window. The new leaves on the trees unfurled before her very eyes, a phenomenon she’d never noticed before. An ant forged its way up a blade of grass, bending it oh-so-slightly with its weight. A grain of dirt near the ant hole was dislodged as another worker emerged to follow the first.
Burgundy blinked and everything blurred, then clicked back into focus again. She lifted her gaze to the top of the tree in front of her window. A robin with a piece of dried straw in its mouth cocked its head at her before placing the piece on its nest. Burgundy drew her hands down from the windowsill and took in a shallow breath.
Whatever broke, it was more than just that one circle, as Martha had said. It was as if layers of protection had been peeled away to expose her power like a raw nerve. Crisp light, vivid colors, even the smell of morning dew permeated the glass that separated her from the outside world.
“Why didn’t I ever see things like this?” she muttered, pressing her hand to the window, a movement that seemed to startle the robin. It fluttered to another tree further from the house, and then to still another.
“Because.”
She whirled and there was Aunt Iris, standing in the doorway to her bedroom, hands clasped before her. In her black taffeta dress with its high collar, she looked like a not-so-modern-day Queen Victoria, grim and forbidding. Light blazed at the edges of Burgundy’s sight, but she blinked it away. Iris might be pissed off, but Burgundy didn’t give a damn. For the first time in her life, she saw clearly, tasted the air, smelled the world around her, and all of it was glorious.
“Because why?” She also didn’t want to make demands, but clearly this attempt to inhibit her powers went further than she’d ever known. “I’ll have answers from someone, so you might as well tell me the truth, for once.”
Her voice had a harder edge than she’d intended. Then again, everything around her seemed to, now. An edge she’d been missing, been yearning for her in life, without really knowing what it meant to completely see, hear, smell, taste, or touch her own unfettered power.
Iris stepped into her room, stopped, and placed her hand on the chair in front of Burgundy’s desk. The lines on her face seemed to cut deeper than ever. “Your mother and I never wanted you to lose your chance at a normal life, so when you were born and we figured out what you were, we did what we had to in order to protect you. First, we made sure no one here remembered your father. It was a heavy bit of magick, especially between the two of us, but we managed. Then we created a nullifying circle around the town. It wasn’t exceptionally powerful. It wasn’t enough to contain an experienced warlock, like your father. But it was enough to keep you from coming into your full power.”
“And how did you keep that up when I left for college? How did you manage to dampen my powers, even when I left Rock Grove?”
Her aunt gestured and Burgundy followed the motion with her eyes. “You wear that ring, carry it with you everywhere,” Iris said.
Burgundy picked up the small silver band with her emerald birthstone on it, the perfect fit for the ring finger of her right hand. “Yes, I wear it because you said my mother got it for me. It’s all I’ve ever had of her.”
“We connected the ring to the spells we cast on the town, so that as long as you wore it or carried it on your person, people forgot your father and you had no connection with your own magickal abilities. Apparently blood will out, because glimmers of power still leaked out, like your ability to ignore the magickal effects of other supernaturals.”
Cold flooded Burgundy’s chest, stealing her breath and her response. She let the ring clatter back to the top of her dresser. They’d done this to her. The women who were supposed to care for her had stolen her birthright, and used a symbol of her desire for a mother’s love to keep her in line.
“All this time, I thought my mother left it as a token of her love, that maybe she’d come back for me. That it was a promise between us. Instead, it was a prison. You both pretended to love me, while taking what I am away from me. That’s horrible.”
“We do love you. That’s why we did it to protect you,” Iris protested, eyes misting with tears.
“No.” Burgundy lifted her hand. She didn’t need to hear this. Didn’t want to hear another word.
Not when the world around her was so beautiful. Yet her throat was dry, her palms cold and clammy, her heart pounding. How could she enjoy this beauty when there was so much ugliness in her past?
“You did it to
protect yourselves, because so what if the Council knows what I am? I’m an adult. I can take care of myself. But what does it do to you and my mother’s precious reputations if they find out I’m your responsibility? You had to create a lie and once you did, there was no getting away from it. At least I can plead ignorance if the Council questions me. You? You have to find a way to explain what you did to me for the last twenty-six years, that you intentionally hid a warlock from them. Quite frankly, I don’t believe you when you say this was about me.”
Iris swallowed, chest lifting with her next breath and skin going pale. “The Council has stationed a Finder in Rock Grove. It’s only a matter of time before he confirms their worst suspicions.”
“Yeah, I’ve met Rolfe. Have him carry a telegram back to the Council to let them know this is one warlock who’s sick of games. I can’t change what I am, so excuse me while I figure out what’s best for myself from here on out.” Burgundy turned to her closet and flung the door open. She yanked her favorite dress off the hanger and tossed it down on the bed. “I have to get ready for work.”
“You need to listen to me. You declaring a path is the only thing that’s going to save you from scrutiny by the Council. I can’t reverse what you’ve done and, trust me, the Council will know you destroyed the nullifying circle and the other protections placed on the town. Actions like that leave a mark, an energy signature that tells the caster who interfered with their work.”
“Then recheck your notes, because I’m not the one who destroyed the protections and circles and invisible prison cell you had me in, Auntie Dearest.” Burgundy opened her dresser and grabbed the first pair of tights her hand encountered. “I have to get dressed, so excuse me.”
It seemed her aunt’s tenacious drive to “protect” her didn’t extend beyond those few words, because she stayed well out of Burgundy’s way the rest of the morning. Friday should have been a day Burgundy looked forward to – a day to get lost in the job she loved, not to mention see Charlotte at the diner, both things she wanted to do. But what she wanted, more than anything, was to stay far away from Iris.
She parked behind town hall and strolled into the diner for her morning coffee. A thrill surged through her and she clenched her fist. She’d done it, told her aunt off for once in her life! It wasn’t that Iris had ever been unfair or mean to her, but after everything, Burgundy deserved this victory. She deserved to make a stand and be true to herself.
“Hey.” Charlotte tilted her head, long, smooth brown ponytail swinging over her shoulder. “You look happier than usual.”
“Because I told Aunt Iris where to shove her witchcraft and her precious Council.” Burgundy sat at the counter and slapped both hands against it. “Hit me with the caffeine, Char.”
“Easy there.” Charlotte leaned close and lowered her voice. “While I’m happy for you, don’t forget you still need to keep something on the down-low until this whole Finder thing blows over. What are you going to do about declaring a path?”
Burgundy pursed her lips and tried to ignore the dampening chill that threatened to push the triumph aside. How often did she get to feel like this? “It might be easier to figure that out if I have a little cappuccino.”
“Sure, with two extra shots of espresso. Coming right up.” Charlotte tapped her palms against the counter and turned. Before Burgundy drew another breath, shouts came from the kitchen. Charlotte blurted out something that sounded like, “Oh shit,” a combination of words that left Burgundy frozen on the stool. Her friend rarely swore and when Burgundy smelled the burning, she knew the response was justified.
Inky black curls of smoke filled the diner from the kitchen. Of all the decades – nay, centuries – the diner had existed, there’d never been a fire. Burgundy pushed off her stool and rushed to Charlotte’s side. Sure enough, a wall of smoke obscured the entire kitchen and threatened to billow out into the area where patrons sat, eating their breakfasts.
The people in the diner were already pushing away from their tables, yelling, “Fire!” and making their way to the exit. Charlotte was the only person who stood completely still.
Burgundy grabbed her by the arm. “Let’s get out of here and call the fire department.”
“We can’t. Kevin’s in there.” Charlotte pulled away from Burgundy and moaned. “I can’t see him through the smoke.”
The cook, trapped? No way. Burgundy wasn’t going to allow this. Who would make those amazing patty melts she always ordered for lunch? She squeezed Charlotte’s shoulders and muttered, “Not on my watch.”
The next few moments passed in a blur of adrenaline and sensation. Her heart lurched, each breath shuddered in and out of her lungs, and her entire body went tense. Shoulders and neck tingling, Burgundy willed the fire out of existence.
Magick unlike any she’d ever pulled from her body before filled the air. This wasn’t the heavy, ponderous chain of witchcraft. No. It flowed like spring water, smooth and cool, following the path of least resistance. Everything before her looked sharper than she’d ever seen, even that morning, every color and particle in crystal clear focus. And that energy! She could conquer the world if only she’d give it free rein. Anything was possible. Anything.
She let go of Charlotte as the light edging her vision dimmed. Baby step by baby step, she inched through the dissipating haze and into the kitchen. She didn’t know if it was the shallow breaths or lingering smoke that made her light-headed. All that mattered was seeing Kevin backed into the corner, fire extinguisher in hand, unscathed. The cook could have escaped through the back alley door, but instead had tried to help put out the fire.
“It’s gone,” he rasped, lowering the red cylinder.
“Yes,” Burgundy agreed. “You could have died. Why didn’t you get out of here?”
Kevin said nothing, but pointed a shaking finger at her.
Charlotte approached her, hand waving through the remains of the gray wisps. “Burgundy,” she said, “I hope I’m the only person who saw that.”
“Saw what?” Burgundy glanced at her friend, then back at Kevin.
“Nope. I saw it, too,” the cook confirmed, his Adam’s apple bobbing and his index finger still wagging with every shudder that wracked his body.
“What?” Burgundy asked again.
Charlotte tugged on the wrist of her shirt. “Your eyes. You know what they do when you use your real magick.”
Oh. A look at Kevin’s trembling hand and still-cowering form confirmed it. Something she hadn’t had to consider for three months.
Silver eyes.
Just like her father.
Chapter Twelve
“You can’t stay in Rock Grove,” Charlotte whispered.
“Yes, I can. It’s ridiculous that I should get punished for something I can’t control. I didn’t ask to be born this way.” A glance in the mirror showed Burgundy’s eyes were back to normal, the irises returned to the same shade of blue that matched the streaks at the front of her hair. Not even a tinge of silver lingered to give her away.
After the fire department have given the all-clear, Burgundy and Charlotte went to the library together, opening it late much to the dismay of a foot-tapping Lynn. Burgundy went to the corner downstairs in the children’s room, where she processed new materials. The rustle of activity as she worked through a pile of new audiobooks covered up her whispered conversation with Charlotte, while Sylvia checked in books and put them on the cart for shelving.
“I agree, but until things change, you’ve got to be more careful. Now Kevin knows and he looked like he wanted to crap himself.”
Burgundy caught her lower lip beneath her teeth and shrugged before answering. “That could have been the fire. Fire makes me want to crap myself, too.”
“Be serious.”
“I am! If my kitchen was on fire, I’d probably flip out. Any normal person would. And, think about it, Charlotte. That’s all I am – a normal person who just so happens to be a warlock. And all I want... all I want...” Burg
undy let her palms fall against the top of the desk. “All I want is a nice, quiet life here, in Rock Grove, working at the library. Sure, sometimes I want excitement, but I never asked to be public enemy number one. Most of the time, all I would like is the opportunity to understand myself and the world around me, grow, and maybe travel a bit. Is that too much to ask?”
The way Charlotte nibbled her own lip, Burgundy thought her friend might contradict her. Might not take her side for once. But then Charlotte pulled her into a hug. “No, that’s not too much to ask. You’re right and I’m sorry if I seem like I doubted you. It’s not doubt. It’s worry.”
Burgundy let herself melt against Charlotte, into those strong arms and against that slender form taut with muscle. She smelled like smoke, but it didn’t matter. Charlotte could smell like bacon and she’d still... No, Burgundy would hug anyone who smelled like bacon. Even Reginald the Finder.
Charlotte pulled away and blew out a breath. “It’s just that, having a Finder stationed in town to keep an eye on you is scary business. There’s got to be something we can do to get you off their radar.”
“Like what?” At least Burgundy knew Charlotte truly cared when she said things like that, unlike Aunt Iris.
“Like ask Mr. Knight.” Charlotte curled her fingers around Burgundy’s wrist. “He’s been around forever and he said he was your ally. We should talk to him about what happened today.”
Burgundy turned her gaze back to the stacks of brand new books and DVDs, still sitting on the shelves, waiting for in-processing. She mulled over Charlotte’s suggestion. Keeping work and personal life separate always seemed like the most responsible thing to do. She’d never thought of co-workers as anything more than that, especially her boss. They were there to do the same job, share pleasant chat, and go home.
But if Mr. Knight really wanted to help her, if her father had truly asked him to watch over her, then that separation had never existed in the first place.
