The Coveted, page 10
I—I was starting to worry that there weren’t many of us left.
“Of our coven, no. But people who practice the old ways are still here, lurking in the shadows. Those who escaped the genocide, those who saw it coming, and those who were protected by the sacrifice of others. We’ve all been waiting for you.”
I felt my heart swell, and hers did too, and in that moment, I couldn’t tell which was which because we were one—and that wasn’t uncomfortable at all anymore, because I knew we were innately connected. We were family, not by blood but by something just as sacred.
And I’ve been waiting for you. All of you. A community.
Her jaw set, and she turned away from the mirror so I couldn’t see her anymore. “We will have that again. They will not win. They will not squash us down and divide us—sell us false histories and non-truths—convince us that our tradition, society, and magick is weak or wrong.”
We’re stronger, we said as one. That was when a heavy pounding sounded from somewhere nearby.
I—well, she—walked through her rustic and small bedroom, where candles were scattered about and herbs hung to dry on the walls. It reminded me of my mothers’ cottage back in Northern Ireland. She made her way down some steps and to the front door, where more pounding ensued.
A middle-aged man stood on the other side, tall but thin, his skin uneven like it was scarred from acne. He had a dark beard and bushy eyebrows, and he was wearing a black uniform that sort of reminded me of old-fashioned police. I could feel Seraphina’s heart pound hard in her chest.
“You’ve been accused.” He smiled, but his eyes showed only spite.
“Of what?” she asked, and I could tell she was raising power, preparing for attack.
I’ll help, I said quickly, dread pooling in my stomach.
“You know what, you filthy heretic,” he spat, and soon he was bursting through the front door. “You’ve been condemned to the dungeons. For life.”
Seraphina stiffened and backed away from him. When he lifted his palm, she raised her hands in an X-shape in front of her body, gathering up the power we both had channeled into a shield. Soon the man was sending hexes her way, pulling out handcuffs. In the astrals I could see that they held a black aura extending out past the metal, indicative of dark magick. Lucius’s magick. The shield out in front of our—her—body glowed white and deep blue.
I know you want to try and protect me, but you can’t use the full scope of your power. It’ll raise suspicion and probably get me killed, she said, straining against the dark, paralytic energy eating away at her shield.
Where are these dungeons? Are they a prison? I asked. This man was unusually strong, and his power held the exact same imprint as the King’s. It carried with it a trail of death and pain. It seemed he was one of the ones who received a boost of unnatural power in exchange for his loyalty. Lucius had extended his power into his followers like a parasite.
“Underneath the King’s City,” she whispered before crying out. They’ll torture us until we die.
The man narrowed his eyes at her, his magick slowly eating away at the shield. I wanted desperately to use my power against him, but I also knew she was right about it drawing suspicion. Yet again, I was trapped and without control, wholly unable to save someone from Lucius’s evil. It shattered my heart.
Let go, she directed, and so I did.
The hex overcame her, knocking her to the ground. I felt its stinging pain envelop every nerve ending and render her body immobile.
“Poor thing. Are your herbs and amulets not enough to save you? How about you pray to your perverse fertility goddess. I’ll wait,” he sneered, swinging the handcuffs back and forth as he approached. “If only you’d recognized that the only true power comes from the King, ordained by the high realms, and followed the rest of us into twenty-first fucking century.”
I couldn’t let one of the last living members of my community be tortured until death. I couldn’t let him shackle her.
Áine, listen to me. Whatever the King has done is polluting the original magick of the land. Those of us that are left can sense it. It’s radiating out from the castle, weakening us. We fear it’s going to affect the borders between the dimensions.
We watched helplessly as the man took hold of her wrists, his hands calloused and cold. He snapped the cuffs into place as another wave of pain shot through her body, and I knew they had snuffed out her ability to use magick.
I will find you. I will save you, I said, emotion rising within me. The man’s breath was sour, and his eyes were devoid of any semblance of humanity.
She screamed, and the sound of it pierced through my soul. I know you will. Until we meet again.
Everything went black. Everything was still. She’d lost consciousness, and now I was free again. When I opened my eyes, I heard the rushing sound of waves and the calling of seabirds. Sunlight kissed my skin.
A calmness enveloped me despite the chilling events I’d just witnessed. I was home. This was our home—mine, Daelon’s, and Seraphina’s—a place that was once filled with magick and beauty. I sat up and realized I lay atop a dune, the sand shimmering in its multi-colored iridescence, like millions of tiny crystals. I gazed out at the ocean, and it looked back at me. The waves were mild, its waters tranquil and a clear blue. But soon a familiar pulling sensation had me turning around in the opposite direction.
Finally, I saw what I had always been called to see. It was never the ocean itself. It was the village beyond the dunes. The lump in my throat grew, and waves of grief moved along my spine. All that remained was rubble and ash. The wildflowers, tall trees, and lush greenery of Daelon’s memory and my mothers’ stories were black and dead. The way my mothers spoke of this place made it seem like an eternal paradise. Now all that remained was the mark of Lucius’s evil.
My people’s song was faint in my eardrums, and as I pressed my palm into the warm sand, I could still feel them. I could feel their bravery and love for each other. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I looked out over the destruction. Below the layer of evil lay great power still, embedded in the soil of this land. I rose, but when I tried to climb down the dune and into the town I was met with a firm energetic wall.
When I focused on its energy, I realized a blackened boundary line ran in between the dunes and the rubble as far as the eye could see. Just as my mothers had said, a part of my purpose was to free our ancestral lands—so that witches might be reunited with the magick of their communities that had been nurtured and utilized for centuries. My mothers taught me that honoring one’s home was essential to witchcraft. There was a special kind of magick that arose from honoring the places we came from, and there was a certain kind of evil that arose from removing people from their sacred lands.
I channeled these truths now as my palms sunk deeper into the sand. Every birth, every death, every prayer, every spell—they wove together beneath the earth, fulfilling the reciprocity of give and take that the Universe relied upon for stability. Lucius and the witches who waged his so-called wars destroyed this—not just buildings or houses or streets, but our connection to each other and our connection to things higher than witches and humans—traditions that had endured for millennia, and ties to people that loved and supported us until we returned to the earth once more. They burned up our memories and our sacred prayers. They burned up our mothers and fathers who would never watch us grow up, fall in love, or have children of our own.
The Kingdom wanted us weak. They wanted to erase us from history and dry up our magick. Lucius believed they were successful, that I was merely a weak and futile attempt at fighting back. But I did not just have my people on my side. I had all witches, whether they knew it or not. He had his power, his lies, and his arrogance, but he was alone. It was just him and his puppets. I had everything and everyone, and that’s how I knew he would never win. I just had to find a way to dethrone him before he took the entire world down with him.
And now you see, Momma Celeste said, her voice loud and clear. You must travel to the Akashic Records. Amos knows the way.
Chapter 9
I awoke to hot tears sliding down my cheeks. Strong arms enveloped me, and I was vaguely aware of Daelon pulling me into his lap as he sat against the headboard.
“Shh,” he whispered, brushing away my tears. “It was just a dream. You’re safe now.”
I nuzzled into his chest, unable to stop the sobs that were welling up. I was mourning my mothers all over again, but also our people and our land. It was like one of my limbs had been sawed off. “They stole everything from us. Lucius and whoever helped him. They committed such evil that it shatters me,” I choked. I was finding it difficult to breathe, sucking in air as I clutched him. If Daelon wasn’t here to ground me, I was quite certain I would drown in this pain.
“Yes, they did. But we are stronger,” he echoed, reminding me of Seraphina as my heart clenched again. “What did you see?” he asked.
I told him everything once I was able to breathe again. “Did you know about this? That they’re rounding all of us up who survived and refused to assimilate so that they can torture and kill us.”
His features darkened. “Only vaguely. It’s not my area of command, and Lucius likes to pretend none of it is happening here in the castle. He wants all of the elite he surrounds himself with to be perfectly ignorant and content with what he tells them. It’s a mirage of beauty, pleasure, and power.”
“Even as witches are being tortured and murdered below us?” I hissed. The people in this castle could wear their beautiful clothes, drug themselves up at night, and surround themselves with sex and glamor, but they did so atop a mountain of dead witches and charred lands. “I hate them, Daelon. I hate them so much.”
“Look at me.” Slipping a finger under my chin, he tilted my head toward him. “Center yourself. I know how easy it is to get lost in this hate, but we need to survive if we want to change things. Also, while the people here can be selfish and petty, they don’t know all of what Lucius did. They’ve been force-fed a heavy dose of lies, dark power, and sensual pleasures to keep them satisfied and unquestioning.”
I considered that, but I was too angry to concede. I wanted this whole castle to burn along with everyone inside it. “I think Seraphina was right. I feel my power is dimmer here in this place, and it frightens me. Whatever unnatural darkness Lucius has conjured, I fear what it will do to this realm, and if she was right—what it will do to the human and astral realms too. We need to travel to this Akashic Records place before it gets worse.”
“You’re right. But we also need to be extremely careful. One misstep and Lucius will kill us both in a heartbeat.”
“Even though you two are basically brothers?” I asked, frowning at the thought.
“He lost his ability to feel things like love a long time ago. Now it’s more about companionship, ego, and possession. That’s part of the reason he can never know about us. Not only would he fear we were plotting against him, but he would also…”
“Get jealous,” I finished. “Okay, so basically you need to act like you don’t care about me, and I need to act like I hate you. What exactly is my role in court?”
“Like he said in the throne room, he’s painted you as a lost witch who was raised by humans. He told them you were powerful enough to earn a place in court as a servant to the King, but he hasn’t told them you’re an energy reader. I think he’s going to use you as a tool for his paranoia.”
“To tell him whether or not the lords and ladies like him?” I surmised, raising a brow. Lucius truly did have the mind of a sociopathic thirteen-year-old.
“Yeah, basically,” Daelon mumbled. He scratched his chin. It looked like he was only just realizing how insane that sounded. “I’m a bit too used to his antics, I guess,” he said with a shrug.
I nodded, processing the absurdity of the situation. “I can do that,” I said, though being any kind of servant to the King had my blood boiling. I was expecting a job with a lot more torture and mind games, but I supposed there was still plenty of time for that.
“He’s going to assign me to be your handler, of course, because he thinks it will hurt you. He will also do anything in his power to keep digging at the pain of betrayal, so don’t be surprised if he carries on bringing up my exploits. As well as…” He paused, looking away. “The things I had to do here to survive.”
I swallowed, unable to keep myself from stiffening. I wanted to say that nothing Lucius could say would bother me, but we both knew it already had. “It won’t change how I feel,” I said, but dread stirred in my gut.
He hung his head, his jaw tightening as he stroked my hair. He held me to him for a while longer before stirring at the sound of a knock on the door.
“I know the drill,” I muttered as I crawled off of him. The smile he returned didn’t reach his eyes.
When Daelon answered the door, I sighed in relief at the sound of Taryn’s voice. She stormed right past Daelon and into the bedroom, ignoring his commands to stop. My eyes widened, and I quickly pulled the sheets up to cover my near-naked body.
“Calm down, love, I already know about this steamy affair,” she said. “You know your secret is safe with me.”
Daelon crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing in on me. “You told her?”
“Well, no. Yes? Sort of. She figured it out after I didn’t come back to my chambers the other night,” I mumbled. “But we can trust her.”
Taryn put her hands on her hips. “Um, why is that even a question? Of course, you can trust me.” She looked mortally offended as her eyes darted back and forth between us.
She has no idea how high the stakes are, Áine.
“Well, then, let’s tell her,” I said aloud, which earned me a chilling glare.
“You know it’s rude to do that right in front of someone, Daelon,” she accused, referencing the obvious telepathy. “Tell me what?”
“If Lucius finds out he will kill us both,” I said, and nothing more. She might be one of us at her core, but she was raised here in this castle of lies. I knew we couldn’t risk telling her anything else.
“You think I don’t know that? I’m not daft,” she flustered. “But this better be all that’s going on. Because no matter how powerful you think you are, you will never be more powerful than the King. No escape plans or whatever else,” she said, scolding us with a wagging finger.
If only she knew. “It’s just sex,” I hurried because it was the first thing that came to mind. It seemed to work for her, though, as understanding flitted across her features. Her aura glowed bright red, coincidentally the same color I knew Daelon was seeing as he continued to glare at me.
“Ohhh. Hate sex. I got you,” Taryn said. She gave me a conspiratorial look and winked.
Daelon threw a hand up to gesture toward me, utterly exasperated. “Okay. She’s here. You haven’t failed. Now can you let her get dressed?” he muttered through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know. It’s not a bad view,” Taryn said, eyeing me, and I thought the vein in Daelon’s forehead might burst.
“Out.” His eyes hardened, but Taryn just laughed as he shooed her away. When he turned back to me the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
If I didn’t know him, I might’ve actually been frightened by his intensity, but instead I just laughed softly. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”
“Excuse me?” he asked, walking over to the bed. I stood, searching the area for my dress. He caught me, and his hand snaked around my waist as he took a gentle hold of my chin. His eyes were stormy, but I knew a playfulness lurked underneath. “Just sex, huh?”
“Isn’t it obvious I’m just using you for your body?”
He rolled his eyes and let go of my chin. “You two need to hurry out of here before Lucius wakes.”
I nodded, the thought of the evil King never failing to kill my mood. I slipped into my black dress with lace trim, wondering idly if Daelon picked out my new wardrobe like he did the red gown. Before I could ask, Taryn was banging on the door again.
“Are you quite done?”
“Yes,” I said at the same time Daelon said “no.”
She entered regardless. “There are guards roaming about. I think it’s best if we jump. You have a busy day ahead.” She raised her brows, and I noticed a flit of annoyance cross her features and aura.
“Doing what?” Anxiety pooled in my gut at the thought of a day full of pretending and false pleasantries.
“Well, first we have a lunch with some of the ladies,” she said with an exhale. “I don’t think I would’ve been invited if I hadn’t been tasked with acclimating you to society, but I can’t think of a good enough excuse to get out of it…” she said to herself, babbling as she often did. “Oh, and Sebastian requested you at the gallery before dinner.”
I felt Daelon stiffen next to me, and I gulped when I met his gaze. Taryn didn’t seem to notice, as she continued to stare off into the distance and discuss how we would make our grand escape if the lunch was as horrific as she imagined.
Daelon had taken up a protective stance next to me, his wall of impassive energy even more sturdy than usual. No, his voice boomed in my mind.
I don’t think I have a choice. Like you said, we need to keep up the charade. He seems harmless, and we both know I’m fully capable of taking care of myself.
I felt Daelon’s seething even as I turned my attention back to Taryn. “Time to go?”
She smiled. “I don’t get to do this often,” she exclaimed, her eyes giddy before narrowing in on me. “It’s actually sort of unbelievable how you can jump whenever you want. Like when you first got here… you must’ve tried to escape a hundred times without even a hint of exertion. Oh, sorry, I’m sure that’s not a happy memory.” She frowned, still considering me with curiosity.
