by Nancy Holder
NINE
PERIDOT
From earth we are, to earth we go
And so the cycle will always flow
Shine upon us, Great Horned God
Let us dominate this land we trod
Goddess, hear us as we pray
Wash the past clean away
Renew us now and give new birth
To family coven, hope and mirth
Holly was tired, and her nerves were stretched thin. Leaving San Francisco had been hard, in some ways harder than it had been when she had first left a year ago. Back home on the Bay she had felt an intense sense of safety. She knew that it was illusory, but when she closed her eyes it was impossible not to believe that the last year had been a bad dream.
That was gone, though, left behind with her house, the hum of the city, and the fog that blanketed it all like a thick curtain that separated it from the rest of the world. Now, together with Tante Cecile and Dan, she was trying to smuggle Barbara Davis-Chin and Uncle Richard back into Seattle.
Didn’t we just get him out of this place? she thought about her uncle.
But Uncle Richard had changed; he was in a far better place than she had ever seen him before. He was strong, and though afraid, not afraid to face whatever came his way.
The same could not be said for Barbara. The doctors had only protested weakly when Holly had decided to move Barbara. The truth was that she had been in a coma for over a year and they had no idea what to do to help her.
It was dangerous to return to Seattle, but it was time for the Tri-Covenate to prove its worth. They were stronger together than separate. At least, Holly hoped so. With James and Eli teamed up with Michael, they were going to have to be.
It wasn’t far now, maybe ten minutes. Holly willed Dan to drive faster but knew that if he did he would only draw more attention both from the mundane and the magically inclined.
Nothing seemed changed in Seattle since she had managed to leave. Escape was more like it, she thought, reliving the violence she had seen in the airport. The city was still under siege. Michael Deveraux had thrown down the glove, and it was up to her to meet the challenge.
First things first, though. She had to make sure her coven was safe and she had to find a way to heal Barbara.
She glanced out the window fearfully, looking for falcons. The clouds hung heavy in the sky, dark and lowering, gathering strength for another deluge. There was no sign of birds of any kind. Beside her, Tante Cecile was murmuring low incantations to stabilize Barbara. Richard was watching the landscape intently.
Holly began murmuring her own spells, wards to strengthen those already surrounding them, wards to make them invisible to all. Suddenly something like a cold wind rushed through her mind. Michael! She knew it with all her being. He was alerted, knew that she was coming! She gasped as fear crushed her heart. A lone bird appeared in the sky, wheeling slowly lower, ever closer to the car.
Suddenly, a ward shimmered blue in the air, just outside the glass of the car. She held her breath as the bird cast about for a few moments before flying slowly from sight. She sank back in her seat, relief flooding her. Moments later they pulled up outside of Dan’s cabin.
Philippe and Armand emerged to escort them inside. “You?” she asked Philippe, referencing the ward that had saved them.
He shook his head. “Pablo sensed you were in danger. Armand and Sasha cast the spell.”
That made sense. Mother Coven members were nothing if not good at wards. She would have to thank them and Pablo. She still bristled, though, at the thought of Pablo sensing them, her. His gifts made her uneasy, and she had done everything that she could to shield her mind from his. She wasn’t sure she had been successful, though. Still, whatever secrets the boy knew he seemed to keep hidden beneath his austere surface.
Amanda and Nicole both flew to hug their father, and Tante Cecile and Silvana embraced as well. Kari hugged Dan and murmured words of welcome. Holly noted the tears streaming on all the faces and couldn’t help but feel a bittersweet pang. There was no one to welcome her. Jer just stood in a corner, immovable and brooding.
“We were getting worried about you,” Amanda told Holly as she released her father.
“Not as worried as I am about all of you now that I’m here,” Holly answered. “I think Michael knows we’re here.”
Nicole turned white, and Holly couldn’t help but feel her pain. She’s still so very afraid of James … and with good reason.
“He might think, but he does not know, yet,” Pablo answered quietly.
A chill danced up Holly’s spine as her eyes met Pablo’s. The thing she had to do was focus on the good the boy did for the group and not the danger he represented to her.
Richard had forced himself to not react as he saw his city under attack. He had lived through enough battles to know a siege when he saw one. There were forces at work here that he did not understand. “Know thy enemy and know thyself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.” Sun Tzu was right.
He’d continued to stare out the window. He had found himself again and knew well his own strengths and weaknesses. His enemy was another story, but he was learning.
His throat had constricted painfully at the thought of seeing Nicole and Amanda. He hadn’t been there for them when their mother died. He would spend the rest of his life trying to make that up to them. Holly had told him that they were alive and well. He wouldn’t quite believe it until he could see it with his own eyes, hold them in his arms. He took a deep breath and willed himself to be patient.
At last they’d pulled up outside a house he did not know and two strangers rushed outside to help them in. He eyed the newcomers and liked what he saw. Especially the one who spoke briefly with Holly. He had a strength to him and a strong jaw and firm gaze.
They moved quickly inside and then he saw Amanda and Nicole. They flew to him, and he felt the tears rolling hotly down his cheeks. They were alive and they both had a glow to them that he did not remember. He crushed them to him and murmured, “I love you,” over and over to them both.
Never again would he let them down. Never again.
As the others talked and rebonded, Dan approached Holly and said, “I think you need some time in the sweat lodge. Some time to pull yourself together. To reflect.”
She nodded gratefully. “That’s exactly what I need. Thank you.”
Quietly she slipped from the room.
She undressed and made her way into the room. Dan had already lit some wood, providing the sacred smoke and heat. Holly squatted by the fire and shut her eyes; she inhaled slowly, clearing her mind.
Her hands were clenched, her spine stiff. She tried to convince her body to relax, but the concept had become foreign to her. She had two states of being these days: high alert, or exhaustion.
All I do is react, she thought. We have to make a plan of attack, figure out how to take the bad guys down.
Sweat rolled down her forehead and her chest. She moved away from the smoke and concentrated on her breathing.
And then she realized she was not alone.
She started; then a hand moved over hers, and she knew it was Jer. “Oh,” she whispered.
He put his finger to her lips. She fell silent, every cell in her body focused on the contact. She opened her eyes and, in the pitch darkness, imagined Jer as he had been, handsome and sensual, and reached out her free hand to touch him.
As if he could see, he caught her hand and flattened it against his chest. His heart was beating fast and hard; she thought of the wings of the Deveraux falcons and began to lean toward him, silently begging him to kiss her. “Jer … ,” she murmured.
And then she was alone.
“Oh!” she cried, startled. She moved her hands through the darkness, searching for him.
He was not there.
Did I dream it? she wondered.
Unsteadily she rose, finding the light switch and flicking it on. There was the fire in the brazier; there, the t
owel she had brought with her. Self-consciously, she covered herself with it and minced toward the door.
She opened it and peered into the hallway. No one was there.
Then Dan appeared at the other end and said, “Finished?”
“Where is … ?” she began, and then she nodded. “The fire’s still going.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he told her. “Go get your shower.”
He withdrew to give her privacy as she lurched a few more steps and then walked into the bathroom. She shut the door. Her hands were shaking.
Then she began to shower.
Nicole woke by Philippe’s side. His body was warm against hers—solid and comforting. He had fallen asleep with his arm around her after having given her the most passionate of kisses. Something had woken her but had left Philippe undisturbed.
She reached out with her senses, stretching her mind carefully so as not to awaken Philippe. Holly and Amanda were performing a ritual, Nicole could feel it. Magical energy crackled in the air setting off sympathetic vibrations along each of her nerve endings. She closed her eyes and she could feel the power surging through her and around her—so familiar, and yet, somehow, new.
She had to go to them. She rose from her bed and was moving before the thought had completely formed. Their blood called to her, the same witch-blood that sang in her veins. Trying to deny it had only brought more fear and pain then she could have imagined.
Passing the spare bedroom, Nicole saw Pablo’s eyes blinking at her, shining in the dark like a cat’s. His head was up. He looked at her for a moment, nodded slowly, and dropped his head back down to his pillow. His eyes closed, and Nicole glided on.
No, it was time to embrace her gift, her heritage, her destiny—no matter what it might be. Her sister and cousin looked up as she entered the room. Candlelight flickered eerily over both their faces.
Amanda’s eyes were warm, forgiving, and in a moment Nicole realized she had always underestimated her twin sister. Amanda’s the strong one. She’s been there for Holly. And she’ll be there for me.
Holly’s eyes were bright, knowing, as though she could read Nicole’s innermost thoughts. And Holly is the flame who has drawn us all together—lit our path and shown us the way. Nicole remembered once hearing an old adage, something to the effect that the brightest flames only shine for a brief while before burning themselves out. Holly was on the edge, Nicole could sense it. This was the first time she had actually met her eyes.
Three candles stood forming a triangle—a strong symbol. A candle sat before each of the other girls. One candle stood before an empty place. My place, Nicole realized.
She sat down before the candle and stared solemnly at the leaping flame. This was her place. Without her, the other two had been weaker. No more.
The candle flames leaped in unison, straining toward the sky and burning white hot.
“We three come before thee, Goddess,” Amanda intoned. “I offer my soul.”
“I offer my heart,” Holly intoned.
And what did Nicole offer? The one thing she had always held back. “I offer my mind.”
“We bind ourselves to you and to one another. We are soul sisters and witches of the blood.”
“I am the mouth that I might speak the truth,” Amanda offered.
“I am the eyes that I might see our foes from afar,” Nicole answered.
“I am the hand that smites those who raise a sword against us,” Holly declared.
Next to each girl a cat appeared, silently on whisper paws. Bast and Freya had accepted Astarte, welcoming the newcomer. Nicole silently intoned a prayer for Hecate, her departed familiar. She was overwhelmed with an image so powerful, so clear. Hecate sat at the feet of a beautiful woman—the Goddess in one of her incarnations.
Tears stung her eyes as a weight lifted from her shoulders. She had felt guilt for so long over leaving her familiar behind when she ran away. Hecate had not deserved that. There had been no real way to take the cat with her. Worse, because of Hecate’s connection to the magic Nicole had done, she had not wanted Hecate around as a constant reminder of the life she had been hoping to forget.
“Peace,” Amanda murmured, waving her hand over her candle. Nicole hastened to follow suit, intoning the word with Holly.
Amanda had known that her sister would join them in the circle, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling when Nicole appeared in the doorway. It was good to have her back. When Nicole had left it was as though she took all of Amanda’s bad memories and anger with her.
Now Nicole was back and, without all the years of built-up resentment getting in the way, Amanda was able to discover a real love for her twin sister. She thanked the Goddess for the second chance, knowing that things could have worked out much differently.
After all, Mom and Uncle Daniel didn’t talk for years. Holly hadn’t even known her dad had a sister.
Maybe it was true that time heals all wounds, but Amanda knew the real change was the one that had been wrought in her. Over the past year she had grown, let go of her childish jealousy of her sister, and learned the value of family.
Nicole seemed changed too. Her time in Europe sounded like it had been a living nightmare. I can’t believe she had to marry James Moore.
Amanda shook her head slowly. She would not have wished such pain on her wayward sister even when she imagined she hated her. As she gazed at Nicole across the circle, Amanda felt complete.
Each girl took her candle and lifted it slowly into the air. A hot wind rushed through the room and fanned the flames until they leaped high above their heads. Suddenly the flame from Nicole’s candle jumped, arcing between hers and Amanda’s. Amanda’s flame jumped, connecting it with Holly’s. Holly’s flame arced toward Nicole’s until a solid ring of fire hovered above their heads connecting and enveloping them.
“No matter what each of us can do, we are made stronger by the others,” Amanda whispered in awe.
As Nicole nodded agreement, Holly smiled faintly. It was good that the circle was complete again and that her cousins found strength in it. She loved them both, but the chasm between her and them was slowly widening. The others were frightened of her. That was why she would never tell them that she had caused the ring of fire to appear. Best to let them believe in the power of teamwork, the magic of three.
Kari’s eyes ached from hours of staring at the computer screen in Dan’s small cubby of an office. Books on shamanism lined one wall. Dreamcatchers and medicine bags were piled inside a small cube.
She heard the floorboards creaking and knew that some people were up. Casting spells, probably. Her throat began to burn, and she swallowed down the urge to vomit.
One last thing and then I’m out of here, she promised herself. She didn’t know where she would go, but it would be far away, school and everyone be damned. Hell, half the school has burned down and no one here cares about me. She felt a hot tear begin to roll down her cheek.
Earlier Pablo had been able to connect with Barbara’s mind for the briefest moment. What he had described had sounded very familiar to Kari, who had spent years studying myths, religions, and the occult. Given what he had seen and what she remembered of Australian lore, she had had a starting place.
From there she had gone to the net. She had steered clear of all the high-traffic sites and chat groups, ferreting out those few sites that contained more esoteric, arcane knowledge, knowledge one had to specifically look for before one could find it.
At last with a triumphant sigh she sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. She knew what was wrong with Barbara and what they had to do to save her. Discovering that had been the easy part. What was coming next wasn’t pretty.
Part Three
Ostara
If one dies while in these other states of consciousness, one dies indeed. This begs the question: Are dreams truly only ever dreams?
—Cesar Phillips, 1874
TEN
SODALITE
Fire withou
t and fire within
We’ll burn them now and watch them spin
They dance for us, plead and moan
As they burn both flesh and bone
From earth we spin and strain toward sky
Trying to touch Goddess on high
Leave behind this mortal coil
As witchblood now begins to boil
Van Diemen’s Land, 1790
“Sir Richard,” the fawning convict murmured as he scraped and bowed at the doorway. The Cockney’s clothing was in tatters, and he had lost all his teeth. He was a most disgusting man. But as he had been crippled when he had been arrested back in London—for stealing a loaf of bread—he was no good for farming or cutting timber, and so Sir Richard Moore had taken him on as one of his house servants.
Richard looked up from his letter and raised his brows.
The convict ducked as if a lash had been laid across his back … which it had been, many times, until the creature had learned how to show proper respect to his betters.
“The Abo woman as you wished to see is ’ere.”
“Excellent,” Richard Moore said. “I shall see her in two minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
The convict backed out and then respectfully shut the door.
Richard returned to his letter, which was filled with good news. It was from his young brother, Edward.
We Moores remain in ascendance within the Coven, and it is due in no small measure to the wond’rous magic you have found in that forsaken land to which you have been dispatched. Father awaits your next discovery, as do I.
The Deveraux press on in the Americas, their quest for the Black Fire fruitless thus far. They are the laughingstock of the Coven, and I believe we have naught to fear from that quarter. The Horned God continues to favor our House and to scorn the sacrifices of the Deveraux. For which I do tender all thanks. E.
“Excellent,” Sir Richard murmured. He refolded the expensive paper and unlocked the top drawer of his desk, where he kept all his private correspondence. Retrieving a bundle of letters fastened with a bright red ribbon, he untied it, added his brother’s missive to the top of the stack, and retied it.
