“Oh, sweetheart,” Sherry said with a shake of her head. “We’re happy to help. Deb talks about all of you so much we feel like you’re part of our family.” She touched her hand to her chest, just above her heart, and all the other women in the room nodded. I knew that when she said family, she really meant the coven, but even safe and sound in their own homes, most witches were careful about their choice of words, just in case.
“So, what is this?” Steven asked again, now leaning over the steaming pot, and he no longer looked so happy about the question. “I don’t mean to be rude, but this looks a little like potpourri in water,” he said, which explained his grimace. “You’re gonna make us drink this, aren’t you?”
“We can’t make you do anything, dear,” Jane said, taking Steven by the shoulders and steering him back away from the stove.
“But that is the general idea, yes,” Jessica said, and I realized by the tone of her voice, she was just as young as she looked, probably not more than two or three years older than us.
“It may smell good, but it doesn’t look good,” Steven whispered to me as he passed to go sit at the empty table. Jodi snickered, overhearing him. She turned to join him at the table.
“I’m sure it’s a tea, Steven,” I said, following him with my eyes, but choosing to remain standing. “They’re probably planning on straining it.”
“She’s a quick one,” Jane said as she continued to stir.
“Can we know what’s in it?” I asked, although I had a feeling the answer was going to be no.
“Are any of you allergic to anything?” Deb asked, but of course she would have already known that, just as I knew where this was going. We all shook our heads no and she smiled. “Then no, you don’t get to know what’s in it.”
“Of course,” I said with a nod and walked over to lean against Steven’s chair.
“Why can’t we know?” Steven whispered to me when I was close enough.
“Probably a family secret that’s been passed down for generations,” I said, picking up on Sherry’s cue and not actually saying the word “coven.”
“Very quick,” Jane said again approvingly.
“Of course, they already know about the lavender and the mint, don’t they?” Deb said, her voice sounding a little reproving, but she smiled as she pinched Trisity’s cheek.
“Aw, the mint’s just for flavor,” Trisity said, crossing her arms over her little chest.
“Well, let’s not tell them anything else,” Deb said with a conspiratorial wink.
“I think it’s steeped long enough,” Sherry said, turning to look at Deb, who nodded in agreement. “Has the moon risen yet?”
“The sun’s still setting,” Trisity said quickly before Deb could answer.
“Yes, but the moon is already in the sky, darling,” Deb said and Trisity looked a little disappointed to be wrong. “You’ll learn, darling, you’ll learn,” Deb said, making her smile.
“Wonderful,” Jane said, setting out three coffee cups and pulling out a small, handheld strainer from a drawer. She held the strainer over each cup as her sister Sherry ladled the liquid into them, catching the different herbs as they spilled out. Once each cup was half full, Sherry set the ladle down and turned towards us.
“Steven, you are a fire sign, correct?” Sherry asked, and Steven nodded. She turned towards the spice rack in front of her, pulled out the ground cloves, and sprinkled a pinch into the first cup. “And you, Jodi, are an air sign?” Jodi nodded like Steven, and Sherry added a dollop of honey to the second cup. “And that leaves our earth sign?” She raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded before she added a squeeze of lemon to the third cup. Jane grabbed the lemon and honeyed cups and brought them to Jodi and me, while Sherry brought the cup with the cloves in it to Steven.
“Do we even bother to ask?” Steven asked me, and I shook my head at him. I knew there was no point in asking about the additional components for each of our cups, no matter how tempting it was. The liquid was a soft brown color with steam rising up in swirls around my face. The aroma was pleasant, like a savory tea, rather than sweet like I was used to. There was a thrum of energy pulsing around us now and I realized that the women were standing around us in a circle; even little Trisity was by her mother’s side watching us.
I wasn’t sure if they had conjured a circle of power or if they were so in-tuned with each other that it just happened naturally, but I was sure this was all part of the ritual. I brought my cup to my mouth and took a careful sip, trying not to burn my tongue. It wasn’t until after I took a sip that Jodi and Steven finally tasted theirs. It was both sweet and savory, a nice balance of spice on the tongue. I took another measured sip and felt the energy around us thicken as we each drank our potion.
A warm sensation began pulsing around my midsection that was slowly growing around my whole body until I felt wrapped in a cocoon of soft down. I looked around and checked my peripheral vision, expecting to be able to see something on me or my aura, but I couldn’t see anything out of place. I saw Steven looking at his hand as if something was on it, and I knew he could feel it too. Jodi wasn’t looking at any part of her, but she was looking right at Deb with her eyebrows drawn together.
“What is that?” Jodi asked, and no one in the room needed her to clarify what she was asking about.
“The first stage of the protection you’ve asked for,” Jessica answered before Deb could, and she sounded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“I get that we can’t know the ingredients or the spell said over them,” I said, and each woman flinched in some way when I said the taboo word “spell,” but I didn’t care right then. “But can you at least explain what we’ve done to ourselves?”
“She has a point,” Deb said, holding up her hand against the protests that Jessica started to voice. “They are showing us a lot of trust here, and she could force us to tell her. Oh yes, she could,” Deb said specifically to Jessica, who snorted in response.
“She’s right,” Jane said to Jessica’s intense surprise, turning her glare away from me to her. “Basically, the tea you’ve just had has added another layer to the shields that you already had in place,” Jane explained, and I tried very hard not to show my disappointment. We could have built on our shields easily, but they had said this was only the first stage of their plans.
“If your shields are breeched, there is still this one in place that we can reinforce for you from a great distance.” Sherry took up the explanation, and I nodded at her to continue. “The first layer of the shield works as a warning system to us. Once it’s exposed, we’ll know so that we can take action to keep the shield in place and help work against whatever is trying to breech it.”
“Interesting,” I said as we took in this bit of information. “How long does it last?” I asked.
“However long you want it to,” Deb said now. “When this is all over, you’ll come back and we’ll give you another tea to drink to disperse it if you want.”
“Will it wear off in time if we don’t remove it?” Jodi asked.
“It will become weaker, yes,” Deb said. “But it must be purposefully removed for it to be gone altogether.”
“Any side effects if we leave them be?” I asked.
“Well, yes, you’ll remain connected to our circle,” Deb said, and I didn’t like the sound of that.
“Explain please,” I said simply and caught the glare Jessica shot me. I could feel her growing animosity building like a green sickness. She didn’t like that we weren’t in awe and complete appreciation for what she and her sisters were doing for us.
“Basically, whenever we perform work together, you’ll be able to feel it and, if we really wanted to, we could locate you,” Deb explained, and I knew for sure I didn’t like that at all and, from the looks of it, neither did Jodi or Steven. It was all just a little too Big Brother for us.
“Do all of your sisters carry this?” I asked, not sure what the code word would be to keep them fr
om flinching.
“Yes,” Deb said simply with a nod.
“All right,” I said with a wave of my hand to end this part of the conversation for now, knowing we would definitely be back for the second tea. “Now, you said this was only the first part. What’s next?”
“We will be working to call on some extra help to be at your call when you need it,” Jane said cryptically, and I had to wonder why they were so careful about speaking in code inside their own homes, but didn’t feel comfortable enough yet to ask about it.
“Where will we be doing that?” I asked, knowing if they wouldn’t talk freely, they sure wouldn’t cast freely.
“Out in the woods,” Jane waved with her hand as if we could see through the walls. “The rest of us are already out there setting up.”
“Yes, they are,” Deb said striding towards the back door. “And I believe the moon is high enough in her path for us to join them now.” Deb opened the back door and held out her hand expectantly. I was surprised to watch little Trisity jump up and run to her, taking Deb’s hand in her little one to be led out of the house. Jessica and Sherry followed them, with Jane holding the door open for us. Jodi and Steven walked out, and I turned to look at Jane.
“Trisity is already old enough to go?” I asked carefully.
“Oh yes, she’s always joined us. She used to practically dance to the beat of our drums and chants when she was in the womb,” Jane said, patting her stomach with a wistful smile. I felt the swirl of happy memories between us as she looked off into the distance to her skipping daughter. I smiled with her before I stepped outside into the cooling evening air to follow the group with Jane at my side.
The grass was still warm with the day’s heat, but as we got closer to the tree line, the air around us became cooler and cooler. We had to walk single file once we stepped within the trees because of how dense the darkness already was, and there was only one clear path in the direction we were walking. The last thing anyone wanted was a twisted ankle from catching a foot on an upraised root.
I breathed in the aroma of the trees and life around me. The forest was like a second home to me, no matter how unfamiliar the terrain. I could have closed my eyes and walked for miles and not once tripped or ran into a tree. I could feel the pulse of ground below me, the trees around me, and the wildlife hidden everywhere as if it were a second heartbeat inside me. We walked for almost a mile before the trees began to thin around us, finally opening up to a clearing where we heard the distant chatter of a group of women gathered in the middle.
I stopped next to Jodi and Steven at the edge of the tree line and took in our surroundings. It wasn’t a large clearing, but it was a natural break in the forest, giving the women a perfect place to cast a circle wide enough for all twelve of them to work. The tree line swooped around, blocking off the view from all directions so, unless some wayward hiker accidentally stumbled upon them, they would never be seen working. And after the mess that Ian had caused last fall, that was a very good thing. Most people don’t draw a line between good and bad magic; unless you had a show in Las Vegas, charging over a hundred bucks a ticket, it was all bad magic to them.
“Don’t be shy, kids,” Deb called out to us from the middle of the clearing, waving her hand, motioning us to come join the group of women. I glanced at my friends and they both nodded briefly, letting me take the lead. I took a step into the clearing and felt a tingling sensation run over my body, not unlike the feeling I got whenever I walked into Deb’s store now. I stopped just inside the clearing and realized all of the women, except for Deb and Trisity, were watching us intently, and I realized I had just stepped through their protection barrier and they were waiting to see if we actually could breach the line. I glanced back over my shoulder at Jodi and Steven and motioned with my head for them to join me.
I could feel the tension riding through them; none of us liked to be tested, but this wasn’t our house, we couldn’t make the rules. Jodi stepped forward first, and I watched her blink as she felt the sensation of the barrier slide over her body, but still letting her inside. Steven followed her with the same anticlimactic results. I turned my face back to the gathered women, who all had a mixture of surprise and relief showing plainly on their faces. It took a lot of self-control not to stick out my tongue at them and sing “Neener, Neener, Neener!”
I breathed deeply to calm my temper and shook my head as we walked forward. Deb saw me and smiled that patient smile she always used during our training sessions.
“Technicalities, love,” Deb said with a shake of her head. “I wouldn’t be setting much of an example for my sisters if I made exceptions for anyone, even my friends. Especially for my friends,” she said, and then she opened her arms wide, gesturing for us to join them in the middle of the clearing. I was glad to see that we were finally getting down to business. I could feel the seconds of every minute ticking away the lives of those two boys lying in hospital beds, and I was tired of not doing something about it.
I led the way into the clearing and saw the shimmering lines of their circles already drawn into the grass. One of the older women stood near the outer most line with an athame clutched in her aging hand. I stopped in front of her and she cut a line in the circle, opening it for us. I started to take a step forward when she held up a bundle of smoldering sage and waved it in front of me, smudging me. She did the same to Jodi and Steven as they approached, making Steven sneeze violently.
“Wonderful,” Deb called out loudly, making all the other chatter fall silent. She clapped her hands together before spreading her hands wide and above her head. “Sisters all, please take your places.” The eleven other women moved away from the center of the clearing and took up posts along the edge of the circle, leaving Deb in the center with little Trisity faithfully at her side. “If you three will join me in the center, we will begin.” We all walked forward, feeling a little on display as so many pairs of eyes watched our progression, but when I looked only at Deb, I felt calm.
We spaced ourselves out automatically, creating a smaller circle with Deb within the larger one of her coven. Deb raised her arms above her head again, and the air around us prickled with energy as if it were just as anxious as the three of us. Deb’s voice began a melodic chant in a language that was foreign to my ear. The other women picked up on it immediately and I knew this was it; we were in it for the whole show now. I took a deep breath to steady myself and waited for the proceedings.
Chapter Fourteen
I wasn’t part of the Wicca religion since I didn’t really care for any kind of organized religion, even one that recognized magic existed and was a good thing. But because I wasn’t part of Wicca, I had no idea what to expect from this. I knew that the basic principles of what they did to cast and what we did were very similar, if not the same, like the circles they performed their magic in. So it took me a couple of minutes to realize that the coven was raising their Cone of Power within the magical barriers of the circles drawn on the ground.
I had read up on Wicca and their practices when I realized what Jodi and I were doing was magic, figuring we were what they referred to as “natural witches,” meaning our magical abilities came as naturally to us as breathing. But I soon learned that wasn’t the case; although we could command magic easily, a natural witch is more a person who is born with the innate power all witches can develop with training. They can write spells that promise to be successful, they can perform spells almost immediately, with very little practice, but they are still bound by the necessity to actually perform spells. Jodi, Steven, and I had no such fetters on our abilities.
I can always make the ground quake beneath me in a rage; Jodi can call up a breeze on the stillest of days; Steven can light a candle with his breath; I can draw up the flowers and moss from barren earth; Jodi can call up clouds on the clearest day; Steven can extinguish a campfire with a thought. We only take the time to perform specific magics, like what is called for in a spell, when we need to help someone in ne
ed. Last year we did so to help one of our friends escape the abuse of a very violent boyfriend and to keep her open to true love, which we were happy to find out was Steven’s cousin.
I watched Deb, studying her hand movements, feeling the power around us rise and fall with the tenor of her voice and the voices of the women around us. It was almost like a dance they had choreographed together. Finally the tempo of Deb’s words began to slow until she finally fell silent, lowering her hands to her sides as the last of the other women’s voices died away. The air felt alive as we stood there, just pulsing around us like a live wire. The Cone of Power was sealed around us, encasing the power of the coven for them to use and protect themselves.
Six of the women that were standing around the edge of the circle walked forward until they surrounded us. That left five of the women standing, evenly spaced out, at the five points of a pentagram. We were gathered around a rectangular table that was covered in a white cloth. Two of the women stepped in and pulled out two boxes that were hidden behind the cloth. One took out a bottle of wine and a small bag of apples, while the other pulled out a silver athame and a matching chalice that was covered in intricate carvings and black stones that I took to be obsidian.
We watched silently as the woman with the apples cut one in half, but through the side, not from the top to the bottom like I expected her to. She showed me one of the cut sides, and I saw hidden amongst the core and seeds was a pentagram, and I blinked in surprised as she smiled knowingly to me. She cut another apple in the same manner and handed Jodi, Steven, Deb, and me each one of the halves. Deb whispered another blessing and bent to the ground and dug a hole in the ground with her free hand just deep enough to drop her apple half into. We each followed her lead and did the same thing, gently pushing the loose earth back over the apples before standing back up.
By then the chalice was full of wine, brimming darkly in the moonlight. Deb picked up the chalice with both hands and said yet another blessing before taking a small sip of the wine and holding it out towards me. I took it in the same manner she had held it and took a small sip, noting the flowery bouquet and the hint of spice that hit the back of my tongue as I swallowed. I passed the cup to Jodi on my left, who passed it on to Steven once she took her sip. The silent woman who had pulled the wine out took the cup from Steven and raised it above her head, as if offering it to the moon. After a few silent moments, she lowered the cup and tilted it until the red liquid rushed over the edge and spilled out onto the ground at her feet. Everyone was watching the wine as it rushed through the grass, pooling in small pockets before it was absorbed.
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