Awakenings (A Witch's Coven Novel Book 1) (18 page)

A knock on my door startled me. Through bleary eyes, I glanced up and saw my house lord walk in. He closed the door behind him and sat on the chair closest to my bed. He had never been in my room before. I could see him glancing around assessing whether he approved or not. But he hid his thoughts well and made no attempt to comfort me, but said, “The doctor believes Denise was poisoned from the arrow.”

“But why didn’t anyone see this before? We could have saved her.” None of it made sense to me.

He furrowed his eyebrows and replied, “The other citizens who were wounded by arrows just died after Denise was found.” He found a speck of dirt on his sleeve and flicked it off. “It was magic that did this.”

I pulled myself up and wiped my nose on my sleeve. “How do you know?”

“The arrow tips were coated in a magic poison that activated only after a certain amount of time. The Southerns are showing their strength and want to demoralize us.”

“Then we must go kill them.” I sat up in bed and stopped my crying. “I have magic as do you. We will go there and unleash our fire on them. I will make them pay for killing Denise.”

He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. “I understand your anger, but we need to plan how to respond. Rushing off and killing might make you feel good, but it won’t win us the war. Powerful I might be, and raw are your talents, but a potion of this sophistication was made by an experienced warlock or witch. And we don’t know if there is more than one of them. There could be an entire coven of witches.” He took his hand off of me and said, “I promise you that you will get your revenge, but it cannot be today. We will need to plan this and learn more before we strike back.”

“I want to join you and become your pupil.” I wiped the tears from my eyes. “I need your help to learn how to control my magic.”

He rubbed the back of his bald head and smiled. “I already knew you would accept.” He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment. “Go to your friend. See him and tell him what you must, but you will need to leave this house tonight.”

“Will I never see Stephen after tonight?” I asked.

“Stephen?” My house lord acted surprised. “I thought you would see Charles on your last night.”

I had forgotten all about Charles in my grief. But Stephen’s name rose up in my heart. “No, I need to see Stephen tonight. I will be back in the morning.”

“In the morning, I will send you farther north to be trained. It is too dangerous for you to stay here.” He got up and headed to the door.

“But won’t you be training me yourself?”

“I can help you at times, but I have thought it over, and you need someone stronger than me.” He opened the door and stepped into the hallway but turned back. “Be back by midmorning and I will take you up north myself.”

I went to thank him, but he ignored me and had already left the room. I grabbed my coat, put on my boots, and rushed out. People called to me, but I just ran until I left the house and stopped to take a deep breath of the frigid air. I headed to the western part of town. I had only been to Stephen’s house two times before. He lived with his aging grandmother who he helped as best he could.

The white snow on the road and houses reminded me of my youth and how beautiful the winter looked and how clean it made the world. I rushed through the streets, and there was little foot traffic this morning. When I arrived at Stephen’s house, I knocked on the door and was surprised that he answered. He still wore his sleeping clothes.

“Morning, my lady of the rags.” He joked with me, but then noticed my eyes were red. “What’s wrong?”

“Denise has died.” I said the words and a fresh round of tears came over me.

He pulled me inside and then wrapped me in his arms. “What happened?”

“I have so much to tell you, and I need to leave tomorrow.” I rushed the words and had so much more to say.

“Leave? Where are you going?” He led me through the tiny home and from the back room on the main floor, I could hear his grandmother snoring.

“I don’t know. My house lord is sending me off.” I hesitated and knew that he would see through my lies. “I have something that I need to tell you.”

“Let’s go upstairs.” He brought me to the second floor to his rooms.

We sat down on his sofa and I looked out the window and could see clouds were coming in from the west. It looked like snow. “I need to tell you something, but I don’t know how you will take it. But I need you to know before I go tomorrow.”

He sat next to me and crossed his legs. “What?”

“I love you.” I said the words and knew they were the words he wasn’t expecting to hear. His face lit up surprised, and then he kept his feelings hidden. “I have so much more that I want to tell you, but I don’t know where to begin.”

“Just talk. I’m listening.” He uncrossed his legs and leaned his body closer to me.

“Denise died by a magic poison in the arrow tips.” I threw my hand up and said, “And I know this because my house lord is a warlock and he has offered to train me in the magical arts.” I rushed the words out and expelled them from me. They came out in a jumble, and I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“I love you too.” He pulled me close to him and wrapped me in his strong arms. “But …”

I finished his sentence for him. “You like men.” I pulled away from him and glanced down at myself. “And I’m not a man.”

He flicked his finger at me like he wanted to tap me gently on the forehead. “You silly, I like boys and girls.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve told you from the beginning that I am attracted to both men and women. From when we first met, you told me that you like Charles, and I accepted that.” He rubbed his beard on his chin. “But the more we spent time together, the more I started having strong feelings for you, and I realized that I was hurt more because you had chosen Charles over me. I’ve wanted to be with you for a long time now.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I did tell you that night that we fought at Charles’ house. And I never brought it up again because I was jealous of him.” He put his head in his hands. “And I didn’t want to steal my best friend’s girl from him. He’s lost his legs and I thought it in poor taste to try and …”

I rushed forward and kissed him. I knew it was wrong, but with Denise dead, being sent away, and the war upon us, I wanted to forget all that and lose myself in Stephen.

He did not push me away but kissed me back. His kisses were tender, and a slow flame burned in them that stirred me. I did not give him time to change his mind. I pulled off my dress and threw it across the room and then slid out of my undergarments. I knelt naked on the sofa and fell forward into his arms. He smelled earthy, and his mouth tasted of anisette from his breakfast. I pulled his breeches off and pushed him back onto the sofa.

Stephen tried to talk, but I shook my head and quieted him with a look. I took his limp penis in my hand and then went down on him. I licked the tip and then put him in my mouth. He became excited and quickly stiffened for me, and I moaned in pleasure. Sliding his penis out of my mouth, I came down and licked his scrotum. He had no hair in his genital area, and I spit into my hand and then slid my hand down his fully erect penis. I gently tugged at him a few times and then let go.

His cock twitched and he pulled me up to him and kissed me deep. Our tongues touched and a complex array of feelings washed over me. Contentment, pleasure, and completeness. I watched him, but he kept his eyes closed when he kissed me, like a little boy, kissing for the first time. He fell back onto the sofa and then straightened his legs and pulled me to rest on him. My bush brushed against his penis, and I reached down to position him. He stared up at me hesitating and waited. I looked into his eyes and saw trust and love there.

I nodded and waited for him to respond, and he nodded back. Then he thrust up inside me, and I slid down on his cock. I fell forward and bore down on him, grabbing his muscular arms. He opened his mouth slightly and took in some air and held his breath and thrust back up into me. He positioned his hands on my buttocks and lifted me up, and then I’d come back down on him hard. We started slow, but then a need overcame me, and he thrust faster into me. I wanted him to fill me up and to complete me. I knew it all wrong but didn’t care. I only wanted to enjoy the time, to forget about the outside and my problems and his, and to let the moment rise up and clean away the darkness within.

Stephen pulled me up and off his cock and held me up and off of him. He clenched his muscles and his penis twitched and hit the side of my leg. I reached down and positioned him into me and then he thrust up again. I leaned back and felt adrift in a wild sensation of ecstasy. He pulled me up and off of him again and went to move me to the floor, and I shook my head.

“I want you to come inside me.” I leaned onto him and watched his face as I told him what I wanted.

He thrust harder and faster, and I allowed my need to consume me. Our bodies slapped together and we moved well in unison. I arched my back and moved my hands to his chest for balance, and he lifted me up and off of him, and then I’d bear down while he thrust into me.

“Come for me,” I commanded.

He slid his penis into me several more times, and I could feel his body tensing up, tightening, muscle by muscle, until he pulled himself fully taut and then grunted out in his release. I imagined his semen filling me up, and I watched his face, a mixture of joy and complete abandon and his grunt turned into a wild cackle of laughter. I sped up and slid down on him and then pulled myself up, held a second, and bore down on him, and a light went off inside me and I came as well. The rush surged up within me and I smiled, and he continued to release himself in me. I took in his semen, his joy, the laughter, and wrapped it all up within and watched him collapse back onto the sofa spent, and my mind raced and I cried out in pleasure as my legs shook.

He took his hands off my buttocks and then wrapped me in his arms. “I love you.”

His words came natural and were true, and I responded in kind. “I love you too.”

I pulled myself up off him but then slid back down and saw his eyes roll back up into his head. He reached down and pulled himself out of me, and I collapsed onto his chest. I rolled over to the side and he half hung off the sofa to make room for me. Holding his penis in his hand, he pulled down on it and flexed his leg muscles and his penis twitched and white semen dribbled up and out, falling off the tip onto his stomach.

He stared into my eyes and smiled and then leaned forward to kiss me. Fresh, true, and loving, he fell back onto the sofa and closed his eyes. I did the same and could hear his breathing, and I reached over and rested my hand on his chest. I could feel his heart beating, and I took a deep breath, held it a moment and then exhaled. I giggled, and he opened his eyes and laughed along with me.

I put my hand on his cheek and said, “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” He put his hand on the small of my back and pulled me close to him. “I’m worried about you.”

“I’m tired now. We can talk later. Just hold me.” I nestled my head into the crook of his neck and closed my eyes.

He did the same, and we fell asleep on the sofa. I heard the stove in the corner of the room, the wood crackling and popping in the fire, then drifted off to sleep. I collapsed onto him and my grief, anger, and fear all were washed away. All that remained was tiredness. The day passed and still we slept like two doves nestled together from the storm.

***

I reached out to my younger self and Stephen as they slept on the sofa, but the image faded and vanished from sight. I stood there watching the empty floor, and remembered that Alessia stood beside me. “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say.

She kept silent for a time. “Take me back.”

I didn’t know what she meant at first.

“Let me see what happened when you left the next day.”

I turned around and faced her. “Are you sure? What I show you next isn’t going to be pretty.”

“You wouldn’t have brought me here unless you thought I needed to see this.” She stood beside me and stayed close. “Come on, show me.”

“You already know, don’t you?” I asked.

“I’ve guessed what happens, but I want to see with my own eyes. And then you want me to judge you for what you’ve done.” Alessia clenched her fists. “Everything has built up to this moment, and now I need to trust that you are telling me the truth or if you’re just lying and using me for your own enjoyment or a game.”

I turned away from her in fear. “It’s too late.” I looked at the door and sensed a presence coming. “He’s found us.”

Chapter 8

Alessia stood in a defensive position with her hands at the ready to cast her first spell. I pulled her by the arm toward the library. “Come with me. We need to get to a safe place.”

She did not resist and came willingly.

I closed the library’s door behind us and chanted a spell of protection. A blue line lit up the perimeter of the door, and I came away unable to hide my fear.

“What is coming?” Alessia turned around in a circle and glanced in the shadows of the room. “You’re frightening me. Please, tell me what’s coming for us.”

Even from within the library, we could hear the wind increase outside, and the storm blew hard. With no window, we could not see out, but through the roof we heard enough. “Take out the Moonstone and hold it in the palm of your hand. Whatever happens to me, do not let it go. Its magic will protect you.”

She did not question me but took the gem of power out of her pocket and held it aloft. The stone began to glow, and she called out to me, but I ignored her. She would be safe and hidden from view. The world turned dark for her, and I remember the first time I had called the gem’s magic to do my bidding all those years ago. The Moonstone would protect her. The door to the library buckled inward, and I stood my ground with my hands at the ready. The words to my spell ready on my lips.

The coldness seeped in through the door and ice crystals spread across the ceiling, like a spider, coming for me. A loud and solid thud against the door caused it to buckle inward again. After all this time, I had run, had hidden, but in the end, we would all be found. The cold crept closer to me and still I did not back up, positioning myself in front of Alessia. A second thud against the door caused visible cracks to appear. I doubted the door would hold after a third time. A gentle sucking wind pulled all the air in the room toward the door and the lanterns went out. There was a moment of silence in which the light from the Moonstone pulsed, throwing its light out as a lighthouse on the rocks of a craggy island, sending out a warning for ships to stay clear, and then the pounding resumed and the door crumbled into pieces, flying in all directions. I caught a glimpse of him and trembled in fear.