The Secret Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 5), page 31
For mom and dad.
For everyone you killed.
I swung my brother’s sword as hard as I could, with everything I had in me. The long black blade sliced through Heaven’s flames and into Joseph’s neck. His eyes met mine for the briefest moment before his head rolled to the ground.
Heaven’s flames consumed every last inch of him.
And then he was gone, leaving only a burnt piece of ground in his wake.
“YES!” Royce shouted. “Now THAT’S how you kill a guy!”
Haven let out a deep breath. He turned. “Oh shit.”
I spun to see what he saw and my eyes widened. Tegan was on one knee with her arms stretched to thy sky, but they were shaking and her energy was fading. Rainbow magic poured out of her palms — still holding the morpher demons. They hovered fifteen feet in the air, pulsing and writhing. An arm shot out to the left and then three different spiked tails dropped. It was trying to morph into something else but Tegan was holding it in place.
Can’t…hold…AND…kill…even Tegan’s telepathy was struggling.
Haven cursed and leapt forward. Then he planted his feet and swung Michael’s sword like a baseball bat — and let go. The glowing six-foot-long weapon of Heaven shot into the air and slammed into the morpher demon’s side. It exploded into white and gold Heavenly flames instantly then vanished. Michael’s sword flew like the scariest boomerang ever right back into Haven’s open and waiting hand.
He nodded to Tegan. “You okay?”
“Never better, babe.” She grinned and dropped onto her ass with a thumbs-up.
Haven sighed and pushed his hair back. He looked around. “Everyone okay? Anyone hurt? Roll call.”
One-by-one, my Coven-mates – and Warner and Lennox – yelled they were okay. At a quick glance, I noticed some of them were battle-worn with bleeding wounds, yet nothing seemed life-threatening. Everyone was on their feet and smiling. Thank the Goddess.
Willow squealed and flicked her fingers up to the clouds. Neon fireworks lit up the now dark sky like the Fourth of July. Warner scooped Lennox into his arms and spun in a circle while she giggled. My Coven-mates cheered and clapped. They hugged and high-fived all around.
I reached down and squeezed Jackson’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”
He looked up at me and smiled. “Bloody brilliant, love.”
Easton sprinted over to where Jackson and I stood. He bent over and inspected the demonic rune drawn in Jackson’s blood, then looked to the scarred earth where Joseph had been. Then he straightened and spun back to face the others. “Ding dong, the witch is dead, my dudes!”
Chapter Sixty-Two
Bettina
My Coven-mates hugged and cheered. They shouted and hollered in celebration of our victory. And it was a victory. We would walk out of this triumphant. The bad guys were dead and gone. The good shadows had been healed of this curse and were on the road to recovery. The traitor got what he deserved.
I got my vengeance.
Yet…I felt…unsatisfied. I wanted to feel what my Coven-mates were feeling, but as I stood there staring at the demonic rune drawn in Jackson’s blood all I felt was —
“Bettina?”
I jumped and spun around to find Jackson standing there. The front of his sweater was ripped halfway down and covered in black demon blood. I reached out and pulled the pieces apart to check for an injury but all I found was one dark blue soulmate glyph. I frowned and ran my fingers over it – then gasped. The glyph on the back of my right hand was the same shade of dark blue.
Jackson covered my hand with his, then with his free hand tipped my face up so our eyes met. He frowned. “Why are you sad?”
I blinked. “Does dark blue mean sad?”
He nodded. “I asked Tegan before I walked over here.”
I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t know…I should be happy right now – and I am. But…I don’t know.”
“A lot of people died today,” he said softly, then pulled me closer. “But we didn’t. Look around, no one on our side was lost – in fact, we got Timothy back.”
“I know. And I am so happy about that, it’s just…all of this…” I shook my head. “My mom could have fixed this twelve years ago if she’d just been given the chance. If Julian hadn’t—”
“Don’t.”
I looked to my right and found Emersyn standing there, watching me with sad eyes. “Don’t what?”
She flicked her hand out to the side and Joseph’s body went up in flames. Then she turned those golden eyes back to me. “I know a little bit of what you’re feeling. I know what it’s like to wish things had happened differently. I know what it’s like to be angry and sad that a life you should have had was robbed from you by the stupid actions of another.”
My chest grew tight and my throat burned like I was about to cry.
Emersyn stepped closer. “But I also know that lingering on those thoughts will rob you of the life you have now. Nothing will ever bring your parents back, nothing will give you your childhood back with your brother and your uncle…but you have them now. And you have us. And a soulmate, a British soulmate. I mean, not every girl gets that.” She smiled and winked.
Jackson chuckled and squeezed my hand.
“You know what I think is really wonderful?” Tegan whispered from suddenly right behind me. She held her hand out to the side…and then Haven was there beside her.
I shook my head. “No, what?”
She smiled at me, then at Haven, who was staring at the ground. “You cleared your parents name, their reputation. Gave them their honor back.”
I let out a deep breath. “You’re right. We did. They’re not the bad guys anymore.”
“And we spoke to her,” Haven said softly. He looked up to me and gave me a small smile. “Really, she’s the one who made all this happen. Even dead, she gave us us back. She led us where we needed to go. Without her help through that Ouija board, Hope may have been lost forever. And that is a victory I’ll celebrate.”
That did it. The dam holding my tears back bust open. As they fell onto my cheeks, I went to my brother and pulled him in for a hug. “Haven.”
He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and held me tight.
“Are we okay over here?” Uncle Timothy said in a soft, raspy voice.
I pulled back and looked over to him. He was a mess, with demon and human blood smeared all over him. There were a few cuts on his arms and one on his cheek – but he was alive and breathing and standing there. Back from the dead.
“Yeah,” I said but my voice came out weak.
At the same time, Haven and I rushed over to him. He smiled and held his arms out then pulled us both in. As I stood there holding on to my brother and my uncle, who should have died in my arms weeks ago, I realized Emersyn was right. I was lucky as hell, and I had plenty of things to celebrate. I had my family back, and because of that, I had an even bigger extended family. I had a home now, and from now on it would actually feel right.
I didn’t know how long we stood there clinging to each other, but when we finally stepped back I found our Coven-mates standing in front of a bonfire at the other side of the clearing. I sniffled and wiped the tears from my face. “What are they doing?”
Uncle Timothy smiled, his eyes red. “I asked them to clean up the deceased and to give them a funeral pyre.” He scratched the back of his neck and looked to Haven. “I know I’m not Coven Leader anymore, hell I’m not even in The Coven anymore, but I didn’t want either of you to have to see all of that anymore…and I thought those souls lost to Joseph deserved to be forgiven, since we failed them.”
Haven groaned. “You know I didn’t want to be Leader, right? All these years, I never wanted to take your job.”
“I never wanted the job, I took it because I had to. Because you were six years old. Because Hunter and Kessler had more important jobs to do – and because Kenneth was too gentle to make the tough calls.” Uncle Timothy shook his head, then turned sad eyes to my brother. “But Tenn, my toughness on you – my attitude – was all in self-preservation. Your mother’s glamour that blinded you from everyone else did not work on me, because your mother wanted someone to know. I pushed you away all these years because it was too hard to be near you and not tell you.”
“I know that now, and I understand.” Haven nodded and scrubbed his face. “But please, call me Haven.”
“And I’m Hope.” My cheeks warmed. “At least for you two.”
Uncle Timothy grinned so wide his jaw popped. “Okay. Haven and Hope, I’m happy with that.”
“Wait a second.” Haven frowned. “Did you just say I was six?”
“Well…yeah. Your birthday is August 14th. You became Tennessee Wildes two days before your sixth birthday.” Uncle Timothy pointed at him. “And I’d like to point out that I was there for your actual birthday. For the record.”
Haven’s jaw dropped. He looked over Uncle Tim’s shoulder and yelled, “Tegan!”
She appeared in front of us a split second later. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m eighteen. Not seventeen.” Haven chuckled. “My real birthday is August 14th and I was about to turn six.”
“So we are both August-Leo babies! The first and the fourteenth. I like it.” Tegan grinned. She spun around to face our Coven-mates who were watching us from the bonfire. “GUYS, I’M JAILBAIT!”
Uncle Tim laughed and shook his head. “Poor Hunter.”
Tegan waved her arm – and then our Coven-mates were all standing in front of us. I chuckled. Tegan and her tricks. As she filled them all in on the information we just discovered – and then they all made jokes about it, much to Hunter’s dismay – my gaze wandered back to that bonfire. I still felt bad that so many of the shadows had to die. Haven had given them the chance to lay down their weapons and make peace, and I knew my brother would have honored that promise.
But I supposed it was too late for all of them. They’d been angry for too long. Too brainwashed by a man who was clearly more evil than anyone had realized. If reincarnation was real, then I prayed they were given a brand-new chance to live a happy life. If it wasn’t real, then I hoped their souls found peace in the afterlife. It was sad that so many lives were lost all because the daughter of an angel wanted to right a wrong from our species past. All she wanted was to help the souls of the tribe The Coven slaughtered after Salem find peace.
I gasped.
“So, boss,” Easton leaned on Lily’s shoulder and yawned. “What now?”
“Well—”
“Actually, I have a request.”
Everyone turned to me.
I licked my lips and looked to Haven. “Twelve years ago mom found a spell to save the spirits here at the Gathering…let’s do it for her.”
Haven’s eyes widened.
“Let’s finish what our parents were trying to do.” I gripped my locket. “After all, the spirits here died because of The Coven. We owe this to them.”
Uncle Tim smiled. “You are just like your mother.”
Haven turned to Tegan. “You’re one-hundred-percent sure it will work?”
“Absolutely, yes,” she answered without hesitation.
“Then yeah.” He looked back to me. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter Sixty-Three
Bettina
“All right, Hope, you ready?”
I looked up from my mother’s spell-book and nodded. “I’m ready.”
Haven turned to Tegan. “And you’re sure it should just be the two of us?”
Tegan grinned. “For your parents, yes.”
I glanced around at my Coven-mates as they all nodded in agreement. They stood around Haven and me in a big circle. Their energies were calm and confident, not a worry in the world. It was a nice change. Surreal, but nice. I hoped things stayed this way for a while.
We just had one more thing to do before we could put all of this mess behind us.
I met my brother’s mismatched gaze that was a mirror of my own. “Okay. First we draw the runes then we recite the spell.”
“Together.”
I nodded. “Together.” I held my hand out in front of me and pulled with my magic. Haven’s dagger flew out of his boot and slammed into my palm. I grinned with sweet satisfaction.
He chuckled. “Show off.” Then he flicked his wrist and mom’s spell book floated up beside us. He wiggled his fingers and green magic flew over and covered the page with the spell on it. Then it shot up like a firework and the words of mom’s spell appeared glowing in the air. He smiled back at me.
I shook my head and giggled. “Show off.”
“You started it.”
“Usually, yeah.” I grinned and looked down at his dagger – mom’s dagger. Uncle Timothy was so damn sneaky, to somehow have managed to get this to him without anyone realizing where it came from. I took a deep breath then gripped the hilt. “Let’s do this.”
“You start, I’ll follow.” He reached down and grabbed the hilt, his big hand dwarfing mine.
The fact that our skin tones matched now made me happier than it probably should have.
Focus, dudette.
I glanced over to mom’s book at the angelic rune drawn on the page. I pushed the blade of the dagger into the ground then dragged it through the dirt toward me. My heart fluttered with excitement. We were about to finish our parents dream of releasing these spirits, and it was going to work this time.
As we drew the rune together, the lines in the dirt sparkled a bright silver. Pink and green magic billowed out from under our hands and swirled around us like a tornado. The gold bands on his arm glistened and his golden wings popped out behind him, they shimmered against the night sky. Something flashed from my hands, when I looked down I found tiny gold bands wrapped around my fingers, about halfway down – like midi-rings found on super stylish girls. We moved the dagger for the final line of the rune and those bands on my fingers glistened.
Silver glittery mist rose up over our heads and spilled into the black sky.
I met Haven’s eyes and nodded.
Together, we read the words of our mother’s spell. I still did not know their meaning, and I only knew how to pronounce them because Tegan had read it before. But with each syllable my body felt lighter and warmer. Golden light poured out of us and spread into the clearing. We floated into the air, hovering a foot above the ground.
Sharp and pulsing energy raced through my body.
White light exploded from within the trees, casting every branch and leaf in shadow. Thich fog seeped up from the ground. My pulse quickened. The fog surrounded the clearing like some force field hovering on the edges, waiting for a sacrifice. Lightning cracked across the night sky. Directly above us, the sky twinkled with little diamonds, but over the trees were thick, thunderous clouds. It looked like the fog was seeping upwards and pouring into the sky.
It was creepy as hell and entirely familiar. I’d seen this before. Right here, in this very spot, at The Gathering. And then that ear-splitting scream ripped through the clearing. Just like before. Except this time, it didn’t scare the shit out of me. I glanced to my left, to where Tegan and Emersyn stood next to each other. They nodded in encouragement.
When we got to the fifth line of the spell, three bolts of lightning struck the ground. All around the perimeter of the clearing, lightning collided with dirt. It trapped us in like an electric fence. The fog had gotten so thick it blocked out the trees. The wall of fog rose from the ground all the way up to the sky, connecting with the clouds. Goose bumps spread over my body. The temperature in the clearing plummeted.
The seventh line of the spell left out mouths with puffs of white smoke.
A loud noise like a freight train rumbled across the sky. Wind ripped through the clearing, but Haven and I floated higher. Our Coven-mates stood tall and strong, unaffected by the hurricane around us.
We said the tenth and final line of the spell and then our knees hit the ground.
Eerie silence filled the meadow.
The wind died. The fog lifted. Everything was absolutely calm. Complete and utter silence. No one made a sound.
The sound of drums erupted from all around us. It sounded tribal. The beats were steady and grew faster, like a death march. That bright light shot out from inside the forest, casting the trees in shadow. It moved closer to the clearing, growing brighter with every inch. My eyes burned from the intensity.
And then they appeared. Standing on the edge of the clearing, were the spirits of the slaughtered tribe. They were transparent like ghosts, yet they glowed bright white. Last time they glared at us with venomous eyes and hatred…but now…they were wide and glassy. I waited for them to charge at us like before except they stood motionless, just staring at us.
Haven looked to my right and his eyes widened.
I followed his gaze and found the tribe’s chief step out into the clearing. He was dressed in ceremonial feathers and war paints. He raised his hand and the tribal chanting continued. The other spirits walked forward in perfect unison until they filled the circle my Coven made. The chief stopped in front of us.
His ghostly eyes looked to Haven then to me. And then he let out a long, deep breath…and smiled. He put his fist to his chest and bowed his head slightly.
“Be at peace now,” Haven said softly.
The spirits all sank to their knees. Golden light flashed from inside of their ghostly forms and their bodies slowly faded away until they were gone. Haven let go of the dagger and jumped to his feet, then he spun in a slow circle.
I slowly pushed up to my feet. “Are they gone?”
“Yeah, they’re—” he frowned and stared off to the left. “I think…two more?”
“Two more spirits? Why didn’t they go, too?” I looked to my left, then did a double take. There were two spirits left. It appeared to be a woman and a man walking toward us, but they looked different than the tribe. “Oh, maybe the spell picked up random spirits nearby?”
