Coven, page 12
But…
As much as Sheridan hated the thought, she had to admit there was a lot about New Moon she still didn’t know as well. There was a huge amount she didn’t know about Dylan Bellamy. A small frown appeared between her eyebrows. She had no doubt Dylan was her mate—the Lord God and the Lady Goddess had made that perfectly clear. Despite that, there wasn’t anything that said a witch couldn’t be manipulated by her mate. Sheridan was reasonably certain it had happened in covens everywhere.
Pensively, she continued to ruminate with her hands on her hips, still staring after O’Rourke. It’s not that she thought Dylan or the coven had any nefarious intentions—not like her father and the Dark Lord did—but she was also fully aware her primary magick as an Incantatrix with a combustible Fire flame would be something the coven would want as part of their inner circle. Not the Dark Lord’s.
And what exactly had Michael O’Rourke meant when he told her to ask Dylan about her last girlfriend?
“Sheridan.” Dylan’s voice was quiet as it broke into the silence that surrounded them. “We can’t help you figure this out unless you talk to us. Can you share what you’re thinking right now?”
Sheridan’s smile was sad as she took Oracle back from Grace and stepped back. “No one needs to tell me what kind of a person my father is. I didn’t fall for his posturing, if that’s what you’re worried about.
“Nevertheless, he unfortunately had one particularly good point. I don’t know you all, even as welcoming, kind, and warm as you’ve been.” She stroked Oracle’s silky head, not letting her eyes meet any of theirs. “I don’t know you, Dylan. I’m not saying that means I believe you’ve been up to no good, because nothing could be further from the truth. What it does mean is that I need to have that private meeting with my father…if only to try and figure out what he and the Dark Lord have up their sleeves.” The witches stiffened, clearly unhappy.
Sheridan finally looked up at Dylan directly. “I also feel I need to find out from you what he meant when he said I needed to ask you what happened to your last girlfriend.”
Dylan squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her forehead. “That wasn’t something I’d planned to discuss with you this soon, but I also don’t want you to think I’m hiding anything from you.” Dylan shook her head. “We’ll talk tonight since we’d planned on getting together anyway.”
“Sheridan.” Evie’s tone was passionate, and she stretched out her hand toward Sheridan. “I swear to you, on everything this coven holds sacred, there isn’t one of us here who would ever think to harm you or be anything less than truthful with you. I knew the minute I saw you that you would be part of the inner circle family one day, even before I knew what you were capable of.”
“I know that.” Sheridan’s voice was kind as she gripped Evie’s hand. “I haven’t felt anything that was less than genuine from any of you. However, I’m hoping you understand where I’m coming from, Evie. You too, Grace.” Distressed at the look of upset on Grace’s face, Sheridan nevertheless forged ahead as she turned her attention to Dylan.
“We know we’re going to war with the corrupted Dark, Dylan. And it certainly doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Cassius Deimos and my father have every intention of breaking the binds that have been placed on Trom-Laighe and the Dark Lord by the God and the Goddess. They won’t stop until Deimos is free, they’ve subjugated all the realms, and their wickedness rules everywhere.”
A cynical half-smile lifted the corner of Sheridan’s mouth. “I know none of you like it, but we might as well take advantage of this golden opportunity to find out everything we can from Michael O’Rourke about their intentions before the war starts. Don’t you agree?”
Chapter 11
Sheridan sat on a comfortable, midnight blue loveseat in Dylan’s apartment with Oracle on her lap, soothed by the peaceful Water essence that permeated Dylan’s home. Dylan sat on the other end of the loveseat, close but careful not to crowd Sheridan. Glasses of peach-mint iced tea sat in front of the two of them on the heavy oak coffee table, a cool bowl of water on the floor nearby in case Oracle got thirsty.
Before Sheridan could decide how to broach the subject uppermost on her mind, Dylan spoke. “Your father told you to ask me what happened to my last girlfriend, beautiful. We need to get that conversation out of the way first because you won’t be able to focus on anything else until we do. Unfortunately, it’s not a pretty story.
“I want you to believe it’s one I had every intention of telling you, although maybe not this soon.” Dylan pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’ve had to absorb one fuck of a lot in the last few weeks, and I didn’t feel this story was anything that couldn’t keep until we caught our breath a little bit. What happened, happened in the past…and telling you about it sooner rather than later wouldn’t have changed anything.”
A slight hint of anger colored Dylan’s tone. “What I vehemently object to is O’Rourke using this situation to both manipulate your feelings and to drive a wedge between us. What happened to Linda was something she brought on herself, but that doesn’t mean he has the right to use her to further his own agenda.”
“Okay,” Sheridan said slowly before she leaned forward to take a sip of her iced tea. When she was done, she sat back and looked at Dylan solemnly. “Why don’t you tell me the story then?”
Dylan sighed as she folded her hands in her lap. “I once had a girlfriend named Linda Rasmussen. I’d just finished with college, the Coven of the New Moon was only getting started, and the best friends I’d had since childhood—that’s Alex, Sam, Ryder, Keeley, Reese, and Hayden—and I were fired up to get both the coven and our magickal practices set on our path. We had no idea at that point that New Moon would become what it is today.
“Like me, Linda was also involved in witchcraft…although I didn’t really agree with a lot of her practices. She was fascinated by the extreme Dark, no matter that I’d warned her repeatedly that demons and black magick entities were dangerous, not something she ever wanted to play with.” Dylan looked down at her folded hands.
“Late one night, I stopped by her apartment unexpectedly. Bruja, my familiar, was a young cat then. I’d bought her a new scratching post and a few toys, which I’d forgotten at Linda’s earlier that day. Since Linda was a night owl and I knew she would be awake, I figured I’d swing by to grab them. When I got there,” Dylan went quiet for a moment before she continued, “I used the key she had given me to let myself in and went into the living room because that’s where I’d left the bag. And I saw—Jesus, Sheridan, I still can’t get the sight out of my head—Linda standing naked in front of this black magick altar she had set up on her coffee table.” Dylan’s voice grew dark.
“Every fucking thing on that altar was keyed to demonology…thick, carved black pillar candles, a statue of Belial, inverted crosses, a skull, the Cross of Leviathan. It was fucking unbelievable, and I completely lost my shit. We got into this huge fight, and I told her I was done with her. She screamed at me that I would be sorry, but I didn’t stick around to hear the rest. I grabbed my shit and I left.”
“Holy hell, Dylan.” Sheridan didn’t know what to say.
Dylan leaned forward and braced her forearms on her knees. “After I left Linda’s, I called Sam on my way home and told her what had happened. She went crazy and told me to get my ass to her apartment as soon as possible. By the time I got there, the rest of my posse was there as well. Reese, who was fucking seething, told me we were going to do a protection ritual immediately. Again, New Moon didn’t exist as we know it at that time, but I already knew those butches were some damn powerful witches and they weren’t about to play around with this. They cast what was probably the strongest protection spell I’ve ever felt in my life on me. Then, about a week later…” Dylan’s voice faltered.
Unable to stand it any longer, Sheridan gently placed her hand on Dylan’s corded forearm. “What happened, Dylan?” she asked in a quiet tone.
“I’d packed up all of Linda’s belongings from my apartment and mailed them to her.” Dylan’s forearm was rigid under her hand. “I changed my phone number and my door locks. I didn’t want to see her, didn’t want to hear from her, and I figured that was the end of it. After a week had gone by, I got a phone call from Linda’s brother. He knew we’d recently broken up, although he didn’t know why or anything else beyond that. Anyhow…he said that, although he was aware we’d split up and weren’t in contact with each other, he thought I’d still want to know that Linda had…died the night before.”
Sheridan felt a huge burst of shock arrow through her.
“After an investigation by the authorities that lasted a couple of months, the official ruling was heart failure. Just one of those freak things, they said…it wasn’t something that could be blamed on anyone or anything. Toxicity reports came back clean, health scans were good, there was no evidence of any foul play. All their findings were normal. But,” the corner of Dylan’s mouth tipped up without humor, “when my posse dug into it magickally, they found traces of a very potent and destructive revenge spell that had been cast and aimed at me. By Linda. Problem was…the spell had hit the magickal protection barrier my friends wrapped around me, rebounded back onto Linda, and it killed her.”
There was dead silence in the apartment as Sheridan struggled to assimilate everything. She lifted Oracle from her lap and set her down on the loveseat next to Dylan, then got up and went over to the front picture window. Crossing her arms, she stared out into the night.
“I don’t know that there’s much more I can tell you, Sheridan.” After a long moment of silence, Dylan’s voice came from directly behind her. “I went to the funeral out of respect for her family—we all did—and that was that. It was one fuck of a tragedy, but I’ve always refused to feel guilty or responsible about it. She chose that path of her own free will…and she tried to seriously harm me, if not kill me outright, because of her need for revenge after I left her. I’ve forgiven her spirit for what she tried to do, but I do not feel guilty about what happened. Nor will I, Sheridan. Not ever.”
“You misunderstand. I don’t blame you for this at all. From what I can see, you’re right about your ex-girlfriend and she brought it on herself.” Sheridan gave a short, cold laugh. “Be that as it may, I am fucking furious with Michael O’Rourke. How, in the name of all that’s sacred, does anyone take a sad, tragic story like that one and use it to manipulate someone? Wield it like a weapon to get the better of a situation? You have to be fucking kidding me.” The ire in her voice was unmistakable.
“Baby.” Dylan wrapped her arms around Sheridan from behind, unable to stand not touching the petite redhead anymore. “There was no doubt in my mind that you would understand everything when I explained it to you. The sole reason I’d held back is because you had too goddamn much other stuff to deal with. What happened to Linda was tragic, but it wasn’t anything you really needed to worry about right away because it was something that happened in the distant past. Unfortunately, your father forced the issue.” Dylan rested her chin on the top of Sheridan’s head. “I can guarantee you Grace and Evie have told the rest of the inner circle what that motherfucker did and now they’re out for blood.”
Sheridan leaned back slightly into Dylan’s arms. Her voice was still cold when she said, “Every instinct I have tells me that both Michael and Deimos are supremely confident they’re smarter than we are. So be it then. We’ll let their arrogance be their undoing. When my father contacts me, I’m going to propose we go to lunch in a very public place as he suggested, but where he and I can still have a private conversation. I won’t hide the fact that you and I have already talked about Linda’s death, but I’ll let just a wee bit of skepticism drip into my tone when I tell him what you told me. Then, I’ll ask him for his version of events.”
A sardonic smile curled Sheridan’s mouth as she continued to stare out into the night. “I’m going to act all calm and balanced at first, but as he talks, I’ll start exhibiting the very faint signs of an unbalanced Fire sign: suspicious, volatile, impatient. I want Michael to believe I’m naive and gullible on some level, and that he and Deimos will eventually be able to persuade me to their side without an enormous amount of effort. I’ll have to put up some resistance at first, otherwise he’ll be suspicious, but I can make it seem like my defenses are crumbling, the more we talk.”
Dylan turned Sheridan around to face her. “I don’t like this, beautiful.” She caressed Sheridan’s face. “I know how damn smart you are. You’ll see every trick he has coming, and I pity him if he thinks he can pull the wool over your eyes that easily. O’Rourke and the Dark Lord are powerful, however, and they are clearly determined to get their hands on you. They’re cunning and they’re also filled with enough self-importance to believe there’s no way they can lose this.”
Sheridan turned in Dylan’s arms and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Dylan, I am an Incantatrix. I can nullify virtually anything cast by another witch or a warlock, unless they happen to be stronger than I am, or manage to get extremely strong magickal binds around me.” Another cynical smile crossed Sheridan’s face. “Michael O’Rourke is not stronger than me, despite what he might think. And I’m certainly not going to stand still and drop all my magickal protection to let him bind me, so that won’t happen.
“I admit…I’ve never battled a demon before, so I have no idea what would happen if I had to go up against Cassius Deimos. Fortunately, he is trapped within the realm of Trom-Laighe. I’m sure as fuck not about to step foot in that place, and Michael isn’t strong enough to take me there without my knowledge or permission. Even if he does manage it, I have one fucking incendiary Fire flame Selene has helped me hone for years at my disposal. Tomorrow, after we do the ritual you have planned—whatever it is—we need to get ready for war, Dylan. Michael said he’d be in touch with me, and I can’t believe it’s not going to be sooner rather than later.”
Sheridan reached up and ran her hands through Dylan’s short hair. “I’m going to call Selene and fill her and Iris in on what’s been going on down here after I meet with Michael.” A soft laugh escaped her. “Selene is going to be fucking furious. And that’s not a witch you want to piss off.”
Unable to help herself any longer, Dylan banded her arms tightly around Sheridan’s petite frame and lowered her mouth. She kissed Sheridan with an unbelievably strong passion. Although there had been many women in her life, Dylan felt the entwining of their minds, hearts, and souls in a way that went well beyond magickal. Sheridan whimpered under her mouth, kissing her back just as fiercely and letting her body melt into Dylan’s.
When Dylan raised her head, she looked at Sheridan’s flushed cheeks and pulled her trembling body even more firmly against her own larger frame. Dylan ran her hands down Sheridan’s back and cupped her bottom, caressing her through the denim fabric of her jeans. “Stay with me tonight, beautiful,” Dylan whispered as she nuzzled Sheridan’s temple. “Even if you’re not ready yet to let me have you, let me feel you in my arms as we go to sleep. Let me wrap you in my protection and my love. I want the Universe to understand that you are mine, and there is nothing in any of the worlds that I will ever let harm you.”
Sheridan drew in a great shuddering breath. “I need…I need to take a shower, Dylan. I need to pack a bag, even though I only live next door. Oracle is going to need her food bowl and her food, plus a few toys.”
“Why don’t you go to your place then, take your shower, then pack everything you need to bring. Call me when you’re ready and I’ll come over to get the bag. Oracle can stay here with me until you’re ready.” A mewl from the sofa showed a comfortably ensconced Oracle, who distinctly gave the impression she was nowhere near ready to move.
“Okay.” Sheridan buried her face in Dylan’s neck. “Are you going to be mad at me if I…if I don’t feel ready to be with you yet? I want to, so much, but…” She hesitated for a moment.
“But you still have questions in your mind and, although you think you trust me and the rest of the coven, you need to find out those answers first before we can move forward.” Dylan tipped Sheridan’s chin up gently. “Baby, it’s more than okay. I am in no way going to be mad at you because you’re honoring your feelings. As much as I want you, I can wait patiently for as long as it takes until the time is right for us to come together. The fact that you will be sleeping in my bed with me tonight is more than enough for right now.”
“Okay,” Sheridan whispered again. She untangled herself from Dylan’s arms. “I guess I should get my stuff then and take a shower. I’ll call you when I’m ready.” When she reached the door, she turned around once more. “Thank you for understanding. Thank you for being okay with the fact that I still have questions I need answers to. We’ll figure this out, Dylan. One way or the other.”
ɚωɚωɚωɚ
The next morning, Sheridan sat on Dylan’s front porch in her nightgown with a cup of coffee, enjoying the warm November weather. The sunshine sparkled on the Intracoastal Waterway right across the street and there was already plenty of traffic on the water. “I still can’t believe it’s this warm down here in November, Oracle,” she murmured to the small black kitten curled up on the loveseat beside her. “Evie’s already told me the temperatures approach hell level in the summer, but I’m not going to worry about that now.”
Dylan had already gone to Alex and Lily’s house, to get ready for that evening’s ritual, but she had kissed Sheridan hard right before she’d left and told her to make herself at home. To Sheridan’s surprise, Dylan had also handed her a spare key to her apartment, telling her that if Oracle was comfortable at her place, there was no reason to keep taking her back and forth. Then, she’d wrapped Sheridan in her arms once more.
“Sleeping with you in my arms last night was the most peaceful I’ve ever felt in my life,” she had whispered as she nuzzled Sheridan’s temple. “Nothing has ever felt that right, Sheridan. I will not pressure you, not in any way, but you have to know I don’t ever want to be apart from you. We will do whatever makes you happiest, because that’s what will make me happy, but you need to know what my feelings are. When this bullshit with your father and the Dark has finally ended, we’ll have time to sit and talk about it. Until then, we’ll just take each day as it comes.”
