A Late Summer Bloom

by Cherrie Mack

  “You’re not afraid of me?”

  “Should I be?”

  He sure looked nervous. His hand was clammy and sweat beaded his brow.

  “Uh—I—I don’t think so. I—” Giselle was at a loss for words. She turned to Julien for guidance.

  Julien held his hand out to him. “Mr. Bovier. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Julien Beaumont. I want to thank you for all you did for my family when they sought refuge here.”

  Percy smiled, then quickly hung his head. “It is my one and only sorrow that I was unable to protect and keep your sister, Joyal, from harm. You have my most humble apologies.”

  Giselle ran her hand down Julien’s arm in a show of support and comfort. She hadn’t realized he would be reminded once again of his painful loss by coming to the place where Joyal had been killed. Her immediate reaction was to comfort him, but she needed to keep him at arms-length. She didn’t think she could hold him without begging him to stay with her. Giselle cast aside her own feelings and wrapped her arms around his waist.

  Percy offered her a slight smile, but a curious crowd gathered behind him, and her mother stood gaping at her.

  “A royal highness should not fraternize with a traveler! Their sole purpose is one of protection.” Cecily spat, approaching the daughter she shunned years before. With a petulant smile, she took her hand. “Once we remove your taint, you will be the highest form of royalty. There will be no limit as to what we can do.”

  Giselle looked into her mother’s eyes, then to the hands that held hers. Remembering the years of wanting and waiting for a mother who never came back for her, she trembled. Recalling the tears of shame she cried over believing her curse would someday transform her into one the evil beings that invaded her mind through the veil, she shook loose of her mother’s grip.

  “Hello mother. It’s nice to see you, too. As for this traveler, he has protected me. He deserves your respect. But since you feel it necessary to converse in front of the coven, I think you have some questions to answer. You left me for years believing I was a witch who would someday rise up and slaughter my own kind. Why? Why would you do that?

  “There are things you do not understand.”

  “Then tell me this—who is my father? I want the truth.”

  “I can’t tell you. Not now. Not here.”

  “I am a powerful, gifted witch, mother. I know that now. And I can use every ounce of that power to destroy you. I don’t want to do that, but I’m prepared to get it out of you one way or the other.”

  “Because you are hateful. At the center of your core lies an evil beyond your comprehension. And it must be destroyed before the moon cycles into your twentieth year. You must let us help you.” Cecily held her arms out in a plea to the members of the royal families as more of them made their way outside.

  Standing in a line, protecting Cottonwood Landing, the members of the coven clasped their hands together in a sign of solidarity. Cecily continued to speak to them. “A wicked man tricked me into an affair with his beguiling powers of black magic. His hatred of me ran deep, even when he professed his love. His intention was clear. He set forth to impregnate me with a child of royal blood, mixed with the tainted blood of Natas. And he succeeded.”

  The coven members gasped at her words.

  Percy stepped forward to address Cecily. “You will have this coven believe that the blood of Natas himself flows through the heart of your daughter?”

  “Yes. It does. But I know of a great healer who can remove the stain and set her free. He has promised us a lifetime of protection.” Cecily looked at Giselle. “You must let us help you. If you don’t, you might as well throw yourself on your traveler’s sword.”

  Watching the members of the coven look to Percy for guidance, tears welled in Giselle’s eyes at her mother’s words. Becoming weak in the knees, she wrapped her arms around her torso. Her eyes sought out the one person whom she trusted with her life. Julien. Helpless to say a word, she watched him hoist a gleaming sword straight out in front of him. Pointing the blade directly at her mother, he spoke loudly so the others would hear.

  “You will tell this coven the truth. Haven’t you weaved enough lies to last a lifetime?” His eyes sought out the members of the royal families. “I am witness to the tenth power. Giselle is of the light. The witch Cecily lies.”

  In a show of support, Percy stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Julien.

  The members of the five families looked to Cecily. She grasped her pendant, running past the gathering royals and into the sanctuary of Cottonwood Landing.

  Grabbing Giselle’s hand, Julien pulled her along, marching after Cecily. Without so much as a glance, he marched past the royals.

  Some members blocked him, and whispers could be heard. “Don’t let her breach the entrance.”

  All it took was one look from the traveler. They recognized his determination and moved out of his way. He strode into Cottonwood Landing uninvited. Looking around at the massive estate, he followed his nose, tracking her scent. “This way.”

  Giselle remained silent, listening to the whispers of the coven members as they fell in behind them.

  Slamming open the door to the room in which Cecily cowered, Julien walked toward her. “So help me woman, you will tell the information, or I will bring a wrath down on you. Coven or no coven, you will confirm what I already know and tell your daughter the truth. You have been lying all these years, and for what? You’ve turned your beautiful daughter, a witch to the tenth power, into a sniveling mess. You stole the coven’s chance to watch her power grow and bear witness to her massive blessings. And you kept her from knowing a father who wants nothing more than to love and protect her.”

  Cecily clutched the pendant around her neck. Pulling it from side to side, she cried, shaking her head no. “You don’t understand. You know nothing. Her father is a treacherous and evil man. He brought a curse down on us. I was there, I know. But there is hope.” She looked at Giselle. “Don’t you see? Leaving you was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but if I didn’t, you would not be here today. I had to hide you, run away so he would follow me. I couldn’t return to you. But I can help you when your magic comes of age. Please believe me. Zacharias knew you would come back to Cottonwood Landing. He knows things no one else could possibly know. You must trust me, Giselle. It is my fault you carry this hex—please let me rid you of its consequence. You will be free. Free to marry whomever you want. Free to roam wherever you want. Please trust me.”

  Giselle stepped toward her mother, when she felt Julien reach out, grabbing her arm to stop her. “It’s a trick, Little Witch.”

  “It is no such thing,” Cecily spat.

  “I know you do not speak the truth.” Julien turned to look at Giselle. “I’ve met your father. He is a true warrior, a respected and gifted traveler.”

  “Zacharias is the one and only witch who can break her curse.”

  Julien shook his head. “No. It was you! You cast a spell keeping her father away. Undo it. We, with the strength of the coven, will find the truth.”

  Cecily furiously shook her head. “I cannot. Her father will destroy her. He is not to be trusted. It is the spell that has kept him away all these years. That is why Giselle lives.”

  “Hold on just a minute, Cecily!” The outburst came from the back of the group.

  Giselle was surprised to see Desiree, standing next to an unsteady, but healed, Simon Granvil. She pushed her way through the crowd. Colt Wacumin stood by, as well as two royal guards. Leaning forward, she watched Colt whisper in Desiree’s ear. Desiree smiled, then got closer to them. “You know what? I learned a lot about my heritage growing up in the quarter. Some say I paid too much attention, but I knew it would someday pay off.”

  “What are you talking about, you little fool?” Cecily snapped the question at Desiree.

  “I’m not the foolish one. I know Giselle’s father is Jacques LaFeoure, the traveler. What I don’t quite understand, and perhaps you can te
ll me, Cecily, is why you would think yourself so powerful that you could actually curse a traveler? They can’t carry curses unless they were human when the spell was cast. And Jacques has been a traveler for over a century.”

  Percy could be heard agreeing. “Yes, this is true. A traveler is considered under the wings of the master, thus making it impossible for a witch to impose a spell on an immortal.”

  Desiree stared at Cecily. A sarcastic smile sprouted along her lips. “Told ya.”

  Cecily’s eyes moved nervously around the room but she was silent.

  Julien furrowed his brow, “Then what is it?”

  Desiree smiled. “It is a spell.”

  Giselle narrowed her eyes. “You just said a traveler cannot carry a curse.”

  “He can’t. For instance, Julien was cursed while he was human. Once he became a traveler, his curse would have lasted his natural life and then been broken due to his immortality.”

  “I was cursed?”

  “Selena Lovell ring a bell, Cassanova?”

  Julien cleared his throat as Giselle smirked in his direction. “Moving on,” he said.

  “In case you were all wondering, my true calling is an auditory clairvoyant.”

  Giselle smiled, listening to the gasps of the coven members.

  Desiree offered her a wink. “Along the way here, we stopped to visit the cavern in which Giselle was born. I decided to do a little investigating and found out a lot of interesting things. But, it was what happened just outside the cave, when things really got interesting.” She looked at Cecily. “You, Cecily, were duped.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Cecily paced back and forth like a caged animal. “You are lying! I—I’m sure of it. Zacharias cares for me. He wants both Giselle and I to join his coven. He has protected me all these years. Why would he deceive me? What purpose would he have to ask me to hide Giselle? Why?”

  Desiree blew out a sympathetic breath. She sensed not only hatred and anger, but sorrow. A sorrow that ran so deep in Cecily’s blood that Desiree could actually hear her heart weep. And she tried to be more understanding of Cecily. “I know you initially acted out of anger, and then fear. I think I can understand how you must have felt. The truth of the matter is, you were loved a great deal by Jacques.”

  Cecily wrung her hands. “If a traveler is under the wings of the master, how can Zacharias know the things he knows about Jacques?”

  Desiree slowly blinked her eyes. “Zacharias is a warlock who hosts the soul of Jacques identical twin.”

  “No. I don’t believe you.”

  “You don’t believe me? Or you don’t want to believe me? A warlock can take the form of any witch they kill as long as the soul is locked within them.”

  Cecily frantically nodded her head and pulled her pendant from side to side.

  Desiree continued. “Zacharias keeps Jacques from Giselle. Not you.” But how?

  Desiree watched Cecily frantically grasp her pendant. Looking to Giselle, she watched her do the same. It was in that moment, Desiree knew the truth.

  “That’s a beautiful pendant, Cecily. Where did you get it?”

  Holding it tight, she said, “It was a gift.”

  Giselle held hers, as well. “From who, mother? You told me never to take this off. To keep it with me always. It would stop me from turning. Where did you get this?”

  “I told you. It was a gift.”

  Giselle ripped her own pendant from her neck.

  “No!” Cecily shrieked.

  Desiree looked at Giselle. “As long as you possess that pendant, your father can’t get near you. Get rid of it. You too, Cecily.”

  Giselle threw her pendant to Desiree, approaching her mother as she insisted. “Give it to me.”

  “Never. This pendant has protected us from evil.”

  Giselle got closer. “You must trust that I know what I am doing and that my intention is to help us all.” With those words she yanked the pendant that hung around Cecily’s neck. Pulling it hard until it snapped, she threw it against the wall, cracking it.

  Cecily wailed. “No! Give it back. You must give it back! It protects us!”

  “No it doesn’t protect us—it controls us,” Giselle shouted.

  Desiree shook her head in disgust. “How did he ever get close enough to you, a royal, no less, to get that around your neck? You should have known, Cecily.”

  Cecily rubbed her hand over her bare neck, looking from Desiree to Giselle. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that Jacques has tried to get to Giselle, but he’s also tried to be near you. His feelings for you run deep, Cecily. He loved you. He loves you still.”

  “How do you know this?”

  Desiree’s eyes watered. Her voice softened at the recollection of Jacques words. “He revisits the cavern every year on Giselle’s birthday. He professes his love for the both of you. He speaks aloud into the air, in the hopes that his words would come to you in echoes on a warm summer breeze.”

  As her tone changed, she warned Cecily. “Zacharias is a very powerful warlock, second in command to Natas. He possesses the soul of Jacques’ twin, who fell victim to Natas’ power of persuasion hundreds of years ago. With the help of that pendant, he was able to trick you into believing he was Jacques and reveal himself as evil. He knew you would immediately shun Giselle. It’s what he wanted, so in twenty years, when her powers come of age, you would deliver her into his fold. Unknowing. Unprotected. Wearing the evil pendant you provided.”

  Julien looked at Giselle. “I guess that explains your vision, My Queen. You did see an evil warlock embrace your mother. Only it wasn’t your father.”

  Giselle sighed. “Question is? What do we do now?”

  Julien walked over to where Cecily’s cracked pendant lay. Bending over to retrieve it, he called out to Percy. “Hey—” He threw it to him. “Think you can fix it?”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The sun was beginning to sink in the sky and a chilly wind blew across the grounds of Cottonwood Landing. A low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. Giselle watched from the window of the grand library as the members of the coven scattered across the estate. Her nerves gave way to a rising panic, causing her to pace.

  “You are making me crazy, Little Witch. Stand still for a minute and tell me what you’re thinking.” Julien leaned his shoulder against the open doorway.

  “I’m thinking, well, more like hoping, that I don’t get us all killed.” Maybe I should go alone.

  “Doubt is the only enemy here. You are a witch to the tenth power. I’ve seen what you can do.”

  “I wish I could remember it. What if I freeze up and I can’t—”

  Julien pushed off the wall, closing the door behind him. He approached her and held her by the shoulders. “Look at me. Do I look scared? I don’t doubt you. Not for a second. You protected us from an army of warlocks. You healed me. I have never known of such power before. You are the real thing, Giselle.”

  “Am I?”

  “I just said so.”

  “No—for you, I mean. Am I the real thing for you?”

  He looked away. “You wanna have the talk now? In a few hours, we will be fighting for our lives. I cannot—”

  “You can’t or won’t?” She quipped.

  He pulled away from her and went to the window.

  She watched him scan the grounds while she waited for a response.

  He turned to gaze at her. “I truly love you, Giselle, but we cannot be together. You know of your responsibility to this coven. You must marry within the royal families in order to keep your bloodline strong. It’s impossible for us to stay together. I am sorry. It’s what must be done. The fate of a race is at stake.”

  “So, when this is over, you will leave?”

  His mouth tilted to the side when he sauntered closer. “Yes. I will go and do what needs to be done. I will free my sister’s soul. And when she flies up through the mist of freedom, I will think of you
r sweet, smiling face, and your beautiful eyes looking on as she ascends heaven’s stairway.”

  He picked up her hand and placed it over his heart. “And my heart will beat with joy. And because of a little witch, it will beat with the memory of a great love. A love I’ve never known until now.”

  Swallowing hard, she shook her head no. “I want to go back to the cavern. I don’t want obligations and rules. I want a life with you, on Beaumont Plantation. I—” She stopped short, her tears falling furiously at the thought of letting him go. But deep down, she knew she had to. As he tipped up her chin and kissed her, he whispered. “Me, too, Little Witch. Me, too.”

  ****

  Just outside the library door, Percy stood with his hand hovering over the doorknob. Desiree and Simon looked on. Desiree huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “Well? Are you going to spy on them all night or are you going to go in there and tell them the truth?”

  Simon narrowed his eyes at Desiree. “Truth? What truth?”

  Percy pressed his ear to the door and whispered. “Shh. Now is not the time. It can be useful later on. Besides, I think they are too busy saying good-bye. Let’s leave them in peace.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  In the distance, lightning fizzed and thunder rumbled its low warning. Cecily Jareau moved forward, her feet sweeping through the dead, crackling brush. Trudging toward her fate, holding her head high, she fought the rising tide of panic bubbling up to the surface. Pushing it down into her stomach, burying it deep, she moved with purpose. Facing Zacharias with total awareness, no longer carrying the ineptness that once was her flaw, she looked to set things right.

  Fighting the evil she once thought she’d never have to face, Cecily grew into a woman in these last hours. All her life, feeling like a girl, fifty-six-year-old Cecily finally embraced her adulthood, her witch-hood and her high-ranking royal status. She would not allow herself to be made a fool of. She would stand with her coven, be proud of her heritage, and fight for her daughter. And she would fight until the last breath left her body.