Blood of the White Witch (22 page)

“These covens attacked the white witch
coven, which refused to fight back against those who assaulted
them, feeling like it would be forsaking all the blessings they had
received from their God, to injure another being. Each member of
the white witch coven was slain until only the coven’s high
priestess was all that remained.

“Legend has it that she called to her God in
the skies, asking for mercy on her behalf. Her God heard her cries
and sent an archangel to her who held the wicked covens at bay. The
archangel presented her with a box which held a gift called the
Awakening, which was likened unto the gift of immortality.

“He told her if she chose to open the box
and accept the gift, she would live a very long time so she could
continue the work that she had started. She would be protected from
illness and even death for a time. When her time on earth was
complete, she would be taken to heaven and the Awakening would then
be offered to one of her descendants, who could then continue her
righteous mission here on Earth, passing the power for good down
through the generations of time.

“When the high priestess finally died
centuries later, she left detailed instructions on how her
descendants could receive the Awakening by performing a certain
ritual with the box.

“They were to place the box on the stone
alter in the circle of stones and open it during a full moon when
there is a full lunar eclipse taking place. The box was not to be
opened until the lunar eclipse was starting to pass and light began
to shine on the moon’s reflective surface once again, thus
symbolizing the Awakening of light.

“The witch in the circle who carried the
purest strain of white witch blood would then be the recipient of
the enhanced powers and longevity of life.

“It was soon discovered that even though all
the descendants of the white witch might be present at the ritual,
that did not always mean they carried the purest strain of the
blood. The magic of the white witch was selective and often skipped
several generations at a time, only to reappear stronger in certain
individuals of different generations. The Awakening would
subsequently choose one of these individuals to transfer its power
to.

“The last known white witch to receive the
Awakening was actually a warlock descendant. He left the bonds of
this earth over two centuries ago, and it is unknown if he was ever
replaced in his calling.

“The box, upon which the ritual was founded
on, has since disappeared.”

Dad sat back from the book as we all
silently absorbed what we had just heard.

“You know what this means, right?” Vance
asked to no one in particular. “My grandparents have the box.” He
started pacing the room.

“We need to find out when the next lunar
eclipse occurs during a full moon,” I added.

“It’s in July,” Brad spoke up. “Shelly and I
studied about it in science with our tutor.”

“That can’t be right,” I said. “There’s no
way I could’ve delivered a baby by then. They were very specific in
their desire for me to produce a child.”

“That’s it, though!” Vance said, turning
suddenly to face me. “My mom said they couldn’t drink your blood
unless it was mixed with their own. If you had gotten pregnant that
would have fulfilled that.”

Everyone in the room just stared at him with
blank looks, trying to comprehend what he was saying.

“Don’t you get it? They had no intention of
ever letting you go to term! It was your blood mixed with mine that
they wanted. A baby just enhanced everything! They could drink
straight from you or the fetus.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Shelly said
suddenly. “They’d really just slice her open and take her unborn
child right there?” she asked with a horrified look on her
face.

“Yes, if they deemed it necessary,” Vance
replied without any hesitation, turning to look over at her.

“No offense, Vance, but your family sucks!”
she said with a nauseated glance, and she placed a hand over her
stomach.

“I happen to agree with you on that one,” he
replied softly, and my heart ached at his comment.

“All right, everybody calm down, and let’s
think this thing through. We need to lay out our facts and look at
them. What stone circle are we talking about here? Stonehenge?” my
dad interjected, offering a suggestion, and he looked around at all
of our faces.

“Actually there are over one thousand stone
circles in the British Isles and western Europe,” Grandma Milly
spoke up with a slightly dismayed look.

“You’re kidding!” Dad replied in amazement.
“How are we going to find out which one is the right one?”

“Maybe it doesn’t matter which one it is
in,” my mom suggested. “Maybe it can be any stone circle.”

Dad walked back over to the open book on the
table, silently reading down the manuscript again.

“I don’t think so,” he disagreed while he
looked over the text, pointing out the one phrase that had caught
his eye. “It specifically says ‘the circle of stones’ like it’s
speaking of one in particular.”

“So now what do we do?” Shelly asked with a
sigh, plopping down into one of the dining chairs dejectedly.

“More research,” Brad said absently. He
stuffed a day-old muffin into his mouth and licked his fingers.

“Ugh,” Shelly grunted in reply, not looking
at all happy about that statement, flashing Brad a disdainful
glance.

“I know everyone is tired of all the digging
we’ve had to do lately, but the good news is we should be able to
research several of these places on the Internet. We’ll get all the
information we can on the stone circles from there. Those that we
can’t find out much about we’ll drive to. It’ll be an educational
field trip of sorts,” Dad said, trying to encourage everyone.

“We need to find out the geographical origin
of the white witch coven. If we know what continent they started
on, then my guess would be that the stone circle referred to would
possibly be in the same place,” I suggested, trying to think of
anything that might help us out.

“Or we could try to find out where the first
white witch left this world. Perhaps that would yield us a clue,”
Vance added. “Who knows if she moved around from place to place in
her life? If she knew she was going to die, wouldn’t she go to the
place where she knew her powers would be transferred?”

“Those are both very good points,” Dad
agreed. “I also think we need to keep reading through this book and
see if we can find anything more to help answer these questions.
Any volunteers?” he asked, and he looked around at all of us.

“I’ll do it,” Grandma said, piping up
instantly. “All this history is very interesting to me, and it’s
clear this is part of our ancestry. Maybe it’ll yield some clue to
our own heritage.”

“It’s all yours,” Dad said, gesturing toward
the book before he stepped out of her way. He continued on. “Vance
and Portia, why don’t you go hit the laptop in your room while Mom
and I take Brad and Shelly to the Natural History Museum to see if
we can find anything clues about these stone circles, what they
were used for, and how they were created.”

“Yay, a museum,” Shelly said sarcastically,
without any enthusiasm in her voice as she rolled her eyes.
“Because that’s so much better than a library.”

Vance and I climbed out of the car, the dim
moonlight washing over us while we moved toward the giant stones in
the circle ahead of us. Dad had divided us all into separate
research parties to check out different locations, and Vance and I
had been given the assignment of going to explore Stonehenge. We
had been on a guided tour here earlier in the day, but Vance had
wanted to come back when the place was deserted and explore it more
at our leisure, so after having dinner in the nearest town we made
our way back out to the isolated area.

The large towering stones loomed up out of
the night as we entered the edifice. We walked around each of the
massive pillars together, running our hands reverently over them as
we passed, feeling their hewn textures move under our skin.

We were silent as we moved, listening to and
feeling the energies that flowed around us until we had made our
way into the inner circle of stones.

“Do you feel it?” Vance asked while he held
his hands out from his body, closing his eyes and taking a deep
breath.

“Yes,” I replied, knowing instinctively he
was talking about the humming pulse that was filling the air around
us.

It was as if magic was alive and beating in
the very air here.

“Something very powerful is at work here,”
Vance said, and he lifted his palms into the air in front of
him.

I watched him in amazement when sparks began
generating from the tips of his fingers. There was a loud snapping
sound, and suddenly the air burst into electrical currents around
him.

He chuckled, and the currents spread through
the air, twisting, zipping, and arcing in all directions until
there was a current attached to every stone in the circle. I felt
like we were standing in the middle of an electric storm ball, and
I could feel the static electricity in the air begin to even lift
the hairs on my head.

“Come here,” he said with a grin while he
continued to manipulate the magic around him.

I walked toward him, and the streams of
electricity danced harmlessly away from my body as I approached,
until I was standing right in front of him.

“Lift your hands up,” he commanded me, and I
did as he asked.

He moved his hands until our palms were
almost touching but not quite, and I felt him link with me
mentally.

Sparks began shooting from my fingertips the
second his mind attached to mine, and I jerked a bit as a wave of
the most intense power I had ever felt coursed completely through
my body from head to toe.

My breath caught when I suddenly realized
this was his magic flowing through me. Never could I have imagined
the strength or the level at which he operated. I had always known
he was strong and gifted magically, but I would have never dreamed
it possible at this magnitude.

A stronger surge moved through me. I felt my
hair lift and swirl away from my body as it did, and I realized
with awe that he was playing. What I was feeling was not even the
full extent of his power! I wondered how he could possibly contain
it all. My body was trembling at the invasion of it, and it
continued to pulsate through me, causing magical reactions from my
own power. I noticed the tips of my fingers had now turned to solid
ice.

The air twisted and throbbed with the
electric streams that lifted from our bodies, twisting together. I
watched the display around us in amazement. It was a phenomenal
sight to behold, to be a part of.

He stepped forward then, locking his fingers
with mine, and I felt more than saw the explosion of electricity
when his lips touched mine. I felt my knees buckle under the power
of his magic. He released one of my hands and caught me easily
around the waist before pushing me backward with his body until my
back was pressed against one of the ancient stones.

He lifted the one hand he still held up over
my head, pressing it up against the rock as well. He ran his free
hand down my arm, sending actual sparks over my skin, raising huge
goose bumps there, before he took my free hand and threaded it
around his waist.

Lifting his hand, he touched my face,
running his thumb over my lips while he looked at me. He looked
like some sort of mythical god standing in front of me with the
very air crackling and swirling around him.

Suddenly his fingers felt very cold on my
lips, and I looked down to see that the tips of them had ice on
them also, and I realized my powers were transferring to him as
well.

“Look at the two of us.” He grinned
seductively while continuing to run his thumb over my lower lip.
“Fire and Ice … literally.”

“How are you doing this?” I asked him.

“I’m not. It’s this place. It’s intensifying
everything,” he replied dipping in to replace his thumb with his
ever so hot lips.

Another shock of power rolled through me
again, and my knees buckled so badly I would have fallen except he
held me so firmly pinned there with his body. He kissed me
feverishly, twisting his free hand into my hair, and I could feel
the heat of his magic roll through me with the contact.

He burned so hot it was almost unbearable
for me. I had never realized how cold my magic felt before this
point, but getting to experience him in this way was shedding a
whole new light on him for me.

He kissed me for a long, long time until I
started to notice that both of our lips were becoming icy as
well.

He broke the kiss with a laugh.

“We’re going to have to stop this, or you’re
going to turn me to a block of ice.” He grinned.

“I don’t think that’s possible since my
insides are currently on fire with your magic,” I breathed
heavily.

“This has certainly been an interesting
exchange of power between the two of us, hasn’t it?” he said, his
gaze flitting over my face.

“Yes, it has been very enlightening,” I
agreed.

He let out a sigh, leaning his forehead
against mine, and I stared deeply into his blue eyes.

“I think I want to kiss you here all night
long,” he said.

“That sounds divine,” I replied, watching
him.

“Does it?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at
me slightly. “I’ve never been so hot and cold all at the same time
before in my life! I’m afraid if I continued, you might freeze off
some of my body parts!” He winked, and I laughed out loud at
him.

It was then that I noticed he actually had
frost on his eyebrows, and I smiled, reaching up to brush it
off.