Counter-Hex (Covencraft Book 2)

by Margarita Gakis

  Paris held back a smile. To Hannah, all the Coven members were young and she often referred to them as though they were still children. Well, he supposed, if he lived to be as old as Hannah, perhaps he would too. He measured his words carefully before speaking. "She's... settling."

  "Settling like a brick wall that we'll be seeing cracks in sometime?"

  "I don't know," Paris answered honestly. "It's difficult to tell if she's aware of the distance the other coven members have afforded her or not."

  "But you've noticed," Hannah prompted.

  He took a drink of his tea, wishing he'd added more sugar and wondering if he could snatch another two cubes to assuage his sweet tooth. "Yes. Myself and Josef at the very least. I could check with Callie as well."

  "Jade hasn't mentioned it at all?"

  Paris turned and looked at the heavy oak doors, behind which Jade sat waiting. "No. But I don't get the feeling that she would bring it up with me even if she had noticed. Or if she'd bring it up with anyone at all."

  Hannah made a low 'hmm' sound as she sipped from her china cup. "I admit, I'm curious to see what the cards have to say about her."

  "You've done some readings on her before," Paris replied, "to help us find her in the first place."

  "Yes, but this is the first time she'll be touching the cards and I'll be doing a reading for her with her present. I'm curious. I've done some poking around in the Council archives and I have made some casual inquiries to other covens. I wanted to know if there was any mention in the history books of something of this nature happening before - a witch born outside a coven to a mortal body."

  When Hannah paused, Paris found himself inching slightly forward. "And?"

  "And nothing, I'm afraid." Hannah set her cup down and nibbled at one of the cookies she's set out. "She's drawn attention."

  Paris straightened up in his seat. "What sort of attention? Another demon?" he asked immediately.

  "Nothing so dire this time. I meant from other covens. Word has traveled and witches are a curious sort. I suspect we'll be seeing a few more visitors to the Coven in coming weeks. Most likely at the Coven Ball, I would imagine. It will give them a reason to come and have a look-see."

  "She's not an animal in a zoo."

  Hannah patted him on the hand affectionately. "And we won't let anyone treat her that way. Don't get your English up, it's just simple curiosity." She brushed her hands together as if dusting them off. "Well, sitting here eating macaroons isn't going to answer any questions."

  Paris stood up hastily and tried to make it to Hannah's chair to pull it back for her before she could stand, but she beat him to it. "You'll have to be faster next time," she said with a wink. "Help yourself to more tea." She opened the sugar cube container and plucked out two more, dunking them in Paris' tea with a smirk. He never could hide anything from her. "If you run out of sugar cubes you know where to find them in the kitchen."

  "Thank you, Hannah," he replied wryly, stirring what was sure to be a now perfectly sweet cup of tea. He watched Hannah pull back the oak doors and caught a glimpse of Jade sitting in one of the large chairs in the room, seemingly engrossed on her smart phone. She looked up as Hannah came in and then looked past Hannah to catch Paris' eye. He raised his teacup at her in a quick salute before Hannah shut the doors, blocking them from sight.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  When Hannah looked at her, Jade couldn't help but feel like she was being measured against some invisible stick with strange markings that made no sense. She was never quite sure if Hannah's expression meant Jade was measuring up or found sorely lacking. She wondered if Hannah was ever tempted to use that phrase that southerners were so fond of, 'Bless her heart' - usually reserved for someone terminally stupid but relatively harmless in the grand scheme of things. Jade shifted uncomfortably and tried not to use her tongue to poke at the small rock of cookie dough stuck behind one of her molars.

  "Just us girls now," Hannah said with a smile.

  Jade curled her lips in what she hoped was at least a weak approximation of a grin. Hannah took a seat at the small writing desk that Jade sat opposite. Jade had kind of sunk into the large over-stuffed chair and she tried to leverage herself upright a bit to seem more engaged. It wasn't quite comfortable, but she perched on the edge of the chair and then rested her elbows on the small desk.

  "So, tarot cards?" she questioned. Hannah smiled and drew three decks of cards out of the drawers. They were larger than regular playing cards and seemed a bit thicker too. Jade found herself inexplicably drawn to one of the sets with bright colored flowers on the backs of the cards, showcased against a matte black background. She reached out and touched the corner of the cards, her eyes running over the pinks, greens and oranges of the flowers.

  Hannah pulled the other two decks away and put them back in the drawer. "You chose quickly."

  Jade snatched her fingers back. "I didn't know I was picking," she said, her tone sounding a little petulant even to her own ears.

  "There's no right or wrong answer, Jade," Hannah said. She pushed the cards toward Jade. "Would you shuffle them for me, please?"

  Jade shrugged as she shuffled the cards. Hannah smiled at her.

  "What?" asked Jade sharply.

  "You say a lot with your shoulders, and your eyes," Hannah replied and again Jade pictured some invisible stick being held against her.

  "Most people do." Jade shuffled the cards carefully, not wanting to bend or split them. Her fingers itched to split the deck in two, slap both sides down on the table and fan the two halves together, but that always left decks bent and soft. It was perfect when they were your own cards, but she didn't want to do that to someone else's. She settled for pulling them apart and feeding them back together.

  "So, are you the most powerful witch in the Coven?" Jade asked.

  Hannah tapped a finger on the table and Jade set the cards down. "Is that what Paris told you?"

  "He said you worked for the Supernatural Council and I know he asks you stuff when he doesn't know, so I kind of figured."

  Hannah picked up the cards and clasped them close to her heart for a moment, eyes closed, like she was saying a prayer over them or something. She opened her eyes again and started laying out cards, face down, on the table.

  "I've known Paris since he was a child. I'm happy to assist him when I can."

  "Hmm. That's not really an answer," replied Jade.

  "No. It isn't."

  Jade did a quick count of the cards Hannah was laying out, getting to twenty-one before Hannah started flipping a few over. She studied each one as she turned it, tapping against one or two thoughtfully. They meant nothing to Jade. She had a book on tarot cards in her study materials, but had passed it over in favor of continuing on with the demon books. Looking at the strange pictures of swords, cups, staves, knights, skeletons and what looked like some bad-ass women, she was wishing she'd paid more attention.

  Hannah's eyebrows drew together in concentration and by the time she flipped over five cards, she looked confused. Jade found herself leaning further away from the table.

  "Jade, what were you thinking when you were shuffling?" Hannah asked.

  Taken aback by the question, Jade had to think about it. "Uh, I dunno. Nothing. Um. The Coven. Trying not to bend the cards."

  "Were you thinking of someone? Someone close to you?"

  Jade shook her head. "No. I don't really, I mean um, there's no one... Just the cards."

  Hannah flipped over another two cards, frowned deeper and then looked up at Jade. Jade pushed back into the chair at the searching look Hannah gave her.

  "May I hold your hand?" Hannah asked.

  "Why?"

  "Sometimes it helps me interpret what I'm reading. Your cards are disjointed and it's almost as though... it's as if they tell two stories and I can't separate them."

  Jade had been reaching her hand out toward Hannah and then pulled it back quickly at her words. "Can you read minds?" she asked sharply. It see
med like a ridiculous question, but for all Jade knew, it was a part of magic and tarot card reading.

  Hannah smiled assuringly. "No, my dear. It simply helps me isolate your energy and get a better sense of the cards."

  Jade slid her hand slowly across the cool, slick wood of the table. Hannah's fingers slipped around hers, dry and warm. Looking down at the chapped, dry skin of her knuckles, Jade had the stupid thought that she wished she'd put hand cream on that day. She didn't feel anything 'magic-weird' when Hannah touched her, but Jade still felt like a tightly coiled spring, waiting to let loose and bolt away. Hannah stared at her intently and then back down at the cards. With her other hand, she turned another card over.

  "Your past is dark. Murky. It's like... looking through water. So much water."

  The words made Jade feel sick and she yanked her hand back. Hannah looked up, startled. "What? What is it?"

  Jade shook her head. "Nothing. I don't know why I did that," she blurted, wishing she wasn't saying the words out loud even as she spoke them.

  Hannah stared at her as though waiting for Jade to say more. Jade resolutely met her gaze and stayed still.

  "These are the cards of your past," Hannah said, pointing to the ones she had flipped over. She continued to stare and although her gaze wasn't mean or harsh, Jade definitely got the impression that Hannah wanted her to speak. It was the kind of prompting, pensive look that Jade was sure had worked on people all over the Coven. Jade nonchalantly scratched at her ear and shrugged.

  "Okay," she said, giving Hannah the same look right back. This wasn't her first rodeo with people who wanted to be chatty.

  Hannah's eyes softened a bit and she seemed to relent as she moved onto to the cards that were still face down. "We can revisit that again at another time, I suppose." She flipped over the next three cards. "Your present is a bit clearer." Jade leaned forward a bit. "Learning, small sacrifice, all the things you are doing now. But..." Hannah turned over another card. "Separate. Apart." She looked back up at Jade. "Tell me, dear, do you not feel as though you belong here?"

  "Why?" Jade asked immediately. "Is that what the cards say? That I don't belong?"

  "Not at all. The cards are a reflection of you. They say you feel as though you don't belong."

  Jade didn't have an answer for that. Belonging was a touchy-feely kind of thing and Jade worked hard to avoid things like that. You couldn't really measure it or quantify it, so in the grand scheme of things, what did it matter? "I guess I belong here as much as anywhere else."

  "That's not really an answer."

  "No, it isn't," Jade replied, echoing Hannah's words from earlier with a bit of a smirk and what she knew as probably a bratty expression.

  Hannah tipped her head a bit as though in acknowledgement. Jade kind of liked her. She was sassy. Her eyes darted over the cards as she turned them over, moving them around at times, as though trying out different combinations.

  Jade pointed to a card of a man in a white robe. "What's that mean?"

  "That is the white knight. The card of salvation."

  "I don't need to be saved."

  "I never said it was you that needed saving. Perhaps you will save someone."

  Jade shifted, uncomfortable. She didn't really think of herself as the saving type. "What about that card?" asked Jade, pointing to an intricate card featuring black birds and swords.

  Hannah shuffled the card around some, laying it against some of the cards that were already flipped over and then putting it down and flipping over a few more. "I'm not sure," she finally answered. "I don't know what it means."

  "I thought this is what you did. Like not all the time, but, you know, on the regular."

  "I am sorry, Jade," said Hannah with a genuine tone of regret. "I've never had a reading that was so ... your cards..." Hannah shook her head. "Your cards do not tell a story."

  "Huh?"

  "Most witches, when they come here, their cards tell me a story. Some details are vague, some answers left out, but there is a general sense of linear time about their readings. Your cards..." she trailed off again. "You're cards are scattered. Almost random. Pieces and chunks and it doesn't make sense when I put it together."

  Jade chewed the inside of her lip. It didn't matter, she told herself. She was no worse off than she had been when she arrived. It didn't matter that the cards didn't make sense. It wasn't like they were going to tell her future anyway.

  "'s'fine," Jade mumbled, sitting back in her seat. "It's not like I was hanging around waiting to find out what they said."

  "I assure you, I've been doing this a long time. This has..."

  "Never happened before," finished Jade for her. "I told you, it's fine. I'm in the same boat I've always been. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring."

  Hannah nodded with the air of someone distracted. She pulled out the deck again and placed three more cards on the table.

  "Jade, dear, have you had any problems using your magic?" Hannah asked as she reviewed the cards.

  "Uh, no," replied Jade, trying to think. "I mean, I don't think so. I've been doing my lessons and sometimes things go -" she made a see-saw motion with her hand. "But Paris says that's pretty normal. Why?"

  Hannah looked up at Jade and then down at the deck of cards in her hand. As if making a quick decision, she handed the deck back to Jade. "Could you shuffle them again, thinking about your magic and lay out three cards of your choosing, from anywhere in the deck?"

  The cards were warm from having been in Hannah's hands and Jade shuffled them quickly, trying to think about her magic. She made a move to pick a card and then started wondering if she should be waiting to feel a tingle or something. She decided she was probably over-thinking it and just snapped three cards from the top of the deck, placing the rest back on the table. Hannah leaned forward and turned them over quickly, looking from them to Jade and back again.

  "Does it say that I'm not doing it right?" Jade couldn't help herself but ask.

  "No," Hannah said lowly. She took the bulk of the deck and slipped three more cards out. "It implies that I am not."

  Jade wasn't sure what to make of the statement. Before she could ask any questions, Hannah was up from her chair and pulling open the sliding doors.

  "Paris," Hannah said sharply, "I need your help."

  Paris was up from his chair like he'd been shot, coming quickly to the side room. "What's the matter?"

  Hannah pointed toward the table. "I need you to pick up those cards, shuffle them and deal out three."

  Paris immediately stilled. "I don't deal with tarot cards, Hannah. You know that."

  Hannah pursed her lips together. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

  Jade felt like an entire conversation was going on between them silently as she watched. Paris stared at Hannah, she stared back. He ground his jaw, she squared her shoulders. For a moment, it looked like both of them were getting ready to do battle.

  "Hannah," Paris began.

  Hannah reached out and touched Paris' arm. "Please, Paris. I promise I'm not trying to read you or your future. Just these three cards."

  Paris' lips tightened and he came over to the desk where Jade still sat. He glanced down at the cards on the table and Jade had the sudden urge to cover them up, like a journal laid out forgotten on a bed, discovered by an unexpected visitor. He didn't seem to stop and really look at the cards, though, only reaching past her to grab the deck.

  "What do you need me to think about?" he asked.

  "Your magic," Hannah replied.

  Paris looked surprised, but merely nodded and then started shuffling in stiff, economical movements. After a few seconds, he stopped and fed out three cards from the deck, face up. He set the deck down and Jade saw him brush his hands off on his pants, like they had been made dirty by the cards. Hannah leaned over his cards, frowning.

  "Have you felt anything strange or different about your magic lately?" she asked. He seemed surprised, his eyebrows coming up slightly and th
en drawing together.

  "No."

  "What about the Coven in general? Anything different?"

  Again he thought about it for a moment, shaking his head. "No," he said, slower this time. "But now that you mention it..." his voice trailed off and they both stared into the distance for a moment.

  "There's something off," Hannah said.

  Paris nodded. "It's like it's dulled or fuzzy."

  "Yes. There's a feeling about the Coven like it's muted. I hadn't noticed it until I was reading Jade's cards."

  They both turned to look at Jade at the same time. "What?" Jade asked.

  Paris reached a hand out, like he was going to touch her and Jade leaned back away from it. "Your magic is ... still sharp. Bright."

  "Okay," Jade said with a shrug. "So what?"

  "So whatever has happened, you are unaffected," Hannah finished.

  Jade fought the urge to shrug again. She didn't know what any of it meant. "Okay. So I'm not affected. I don't understand what the problem is. Is this unusual?"

  "Yes," Hannah said.

  "What have you been working on in your spare time? Any of the demon books? Demon spells?" Paris asked.

  Jade felt something cold and slimy in her gut. "Hey, if something weird is going on, I didn't do it."

  "No one is saying you did it on purpose, my dear," Hannah began, her voice taking on a soothing tone that made the hairs on the back of Jade's neck go stiff. "But sometimes when you're new and dealing with magic that you don't understand-"

  "No," Jade cut her off. "I'm careful. I may be new, but I'm not stupid. I don't do any spells unless I understand them. Not even if they look fun. And I haven't done anything lately."

  "It may have taken a day or so for it to manifest. I'd like to take a look at what you've been working on," Paris said. Jade huffed wryly at the way he dodged everything she'd said. He didn't believe her.

  "Fine." Jade crossed her arms over her chest. She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but she kind of needed a ride back to her cottage and had the feeling that if she said what she really thought, he'd take away all her grimoires. "It's all at my place."