Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1) (11 page)

“So they know who I am?”

“They know who all the members of the coven are, they know everything about you. They wait for the right moment to attack, and go for the kill.”

“The one tonight didn’t do a very good job. Why would you attack someone who is in the middle of spell casting? We were ready for him.”

“He wanted you to see him. He was feeding off the fear you had been feeling all night. His appearance was calculated, which is what worries me.”

“But we know the spell to force them back into their realm.”

“Yes, but you see, he hadn’t known about Lisa. She isn’t a coven member yet, you are. It changes everything.”

“So Lisa can hide. Kyle can protect her.”

“Do you seriously think she will run and hide just like that. She knows nothing, Celia. She hasn’t been told. It hasn’t been necessary.”

“Well, it’s necessary now. She has to be told. I’m sure she will be filled with questions now. They have to convene to take the necessary precautions to protect the innocent ones.”

My words took a moment for even me to consume. Dmitri sat back in his driver’s seat and stared out at the living room window.

“She needs to know. You can’t keep this from her.”  He said, referring to Aunt Olivia.

“She is going to want to keep me locked up in my bedroom, is what she is going to want to do.”

“She loves you. Of course she is going to want to protect you.”

“I’m not a child, Dmitri.”

“No, you’re not. You are a powerful witch who needs to be realistic. Everything that you know about the world is skewed, and the veil needs to be lifted.”

“Then by all means, release me from my ignorance.”

Unable to contain herself, Aunt Olivia opened the front door and stared at us from the porch.

“Do you want me to go in with you?”

“Aren’t you the brave one tempting Olivia’s wrath?”

“Oh, I have battled with more difficult guardians.”

I gauged his honesty for a moment, “I bet you have.” It came out as a whisper.

“By all means, it will be much easier to dissimulate tonight’s events with a back up voice.”

We both got out of the car and followed Olivia into the kitchen. She knew something was up, and she respectfully waited for us to explain the events that transpired. The further into it we got, the more unrealistic it sounded.

Life had become a science fiction movie for me, and I was here, acting like it was no big deal. The surrealness of it all forced me to realize how desensitized I’d become. It didn’t faze me to admit to my only family member that I’d vanquished a shadow demon to another realm with the mere use of an incantation.

When we were finished, she looked at the two of us and nodded her head once.

“So, you’re not going to be doing that nonsense again.” She stated plainly.

“You don’t get it do you?” I countered her authoritarian styled response. “They are going to make their attempt anywhere, and when we least expect it, just like they did Mom.”

“You can’t put me in a bubble and expect everything to be alright. And quite frankly, I’m sick of you acting as though you have a say in any of this.” I shouted, getting up from the kitchen table.

“You are not a part of the coven, and can’t do a damn thing to help me!”

When the words were out, I could feel the heat on my skin and the power surging in my system.

“Yes, you are right. I can’t help you fight these horrible life sucking demons, but I can continue to love you and care about your well being. Like your mother asked me to do.” Her demeanor was calm, her expression plain. She hadn’t reacted to my frustration by raising her voice. It was something my mother had always done as well.

Realizing my part in the conversation, I sat back down and quickly back tracked. “I’m sorry. It’s been a difficult night.”

“I bet it has.” She replied.

Dmitri added, “I am going to ask Kyle to stay close to you tomorrow. I’m going to see about convening the coven at once. The situation has become more grave adding Lisa into the mix.”

“So Kyle can protect me just as well as you can?

“I’m surprised you even had to ask.” He said, getting up from the table. He leaned over to me, his mouth caressing my cheek. The heat from his breath stirring emotions in my being I wasn’t expecting.

“If you need me, just think of me.”

I caught his eye as he pulled away, his words easy enough to decipher.

CHAPTER Six

Sunday mornings as a child were magical. No pun intended! Of course, it wasn’t like a Mary Poppin’s rerun. There wasn’t any magic actually happening.

No, my mother would snuggle into my bed, just as my eyes would flicker open. She would tell me this story of a princess from a far away land, and by the end, I would be wide awake ready to start my day after having heard the most beautiful story of happiness.

It was our ritual, we never wavered from it. I could, still to this day, recite the story with every little detail she added. Years and years of a simple, yet complex, habit ultimately ended abruptly a little over a month ago. Today, waking up to a cold silent room on a Sunday morning was just terribly depressing.

No rays of sunlight would ever bring my mother back. I would never hear her voice repeat the story she’d told me my whole life.

But am I that type of girl? The type to dwell on the current emotions choking just below the surface…..No, I’m not.

I threw the covers off my body and lie staring at the white pop-corn ceiling, the fan spinning effortlessly, despite its apparent old model. The morning light was getting bright enough to peek through the dark blue curtains covering the windows in my room.

I knew what I must do…I would simply have to create a new Sunday morning ritual, one that was mine only. Something that no one could take away from me and that no one could interfere with.

The only problem is keeping an eye on the present without referencing the past to make decisions that affect the future. Not something I was sure on how to execute with my seventeen year old mind.

I sat up and caught my reflection in the mirror. Seeing myself felt random, as if I was seeing someone I hadn’t noticed in a long time.

It became a curiosity to see who the girl in the mirror was…who I had become in the time span of a month. My features, the ones I’d never liked reflected the same as they always had. Skin randomly tan, hair and eyes a color brown everyone swore was black. Weight a little heavier than it should be but that was mostly because I hadn’t been watching what I was consuming since summer started.

The physical was still the same….but the look in my eyes had changed, and I felt as if I’d been walking straighter all of a sudden, my spine a little tighter.

News of being a witch brought on a heightened confidence level I’d never experienced before. Doing magic with Lisa last night was not only a rush because it was exhilarating but also because I was in charge of nature. I could wield it with my thoughts, my senses, and no one can take it away from me.

The mere fact that I could do something that others only dream of makes me feel different, Powerful.

With that feeling, however, I worried if I was being too cocky. That by believing I’m better than others was like being a magnet for bad Karma.

You are only as good as you prove yourself to be. 
I heard Dmitri say.

I turned around to see if he was in my room. When I realized he wasn’t there, I giggled to myself for the ridiculous thought.

Get out of my head, it’s Sunday morning. This is my time.

I looked at myself one more moment, noticing the redness on my cheeks. Had he done that? Could the mere thought of him bring heat to my skin?

You are beautiful, stop picking yourself apart.

I shook my head and forced the connection with him closed. I would not think of him this morning. I won’t let him influence my new routine.

I can’t lie though, and say it didn’t cross my mind, to think that maybe I was fighting a losing battle. That maybe the new norm would be some form of Dmitri on Sunday mornings.

Putting myself together, I made my way downstairs. I could hear voices in the kitchen before I could see the faces that sat at our table.

I halted at the entrance of the busy kitchen to find four women sitting with my aunt. Women who I felt I should know but couldn’t quite recall.

“Well hello there, Celia. How are you this fine Sunday morning?” One of them addressed me.

When I didn’t immediately respond to her friendly gesture, Olivia started to get up from the table.

“Celia, this is Jezabel, Anabel’s mother.”

“Good morning. I’m sorry, I thought you looked familiar. She has your same facial features, how funny.”

“Celia, you should probably take a seat. This meeting pertains to you, actually.” Another lady at the table suggested.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” I asked, taking the seat at the end of the table as she had suggested, neither bothered nor welcoming the detour of my new Sunday routine.

“My name is Valerie. I’m Lisa’s mother.”

“Wait, does this have to do with last night?” I quickly asked, the heightened sense of warning jumping straight into my tone.

All the faces in the room turned to face me at that point.

“I’m not sure I can discuss this at the moment, Olivia.”

Olivia’s eyebrow rose, “These ladies are a part of your coven, Celia. You can tell them anything if you are worried about disclosing something pertaining to that.”

“Wait, What?” I asked, shocked that the mothers of my new friends were actual witches of a century’s old coven that I am a part of.

“Yes, Valerie, Jezabel, Gloria, and Maura are four of the other witches in your coven, and there is news you must hear. They have come to summons you.”

“Celia, last night Lisa came home with a wild story from your visit to the farm. Kyle confirmed the news and I knew it was imperative that we call for a gathering.” Valerie started.

“Kyle said that the two of you did a spell to make the demon disappear.”

“It’s in my book.” I stated plainly, not knowing if what I had done was against the rules or not being that Lisa isn’t in our coven.

“Sweetheart, we are not saying what you did is wrong, we are just surprised that you were able to complete such a spell, essentially on your own.” Maura, the older fair haired witch said.

“But I didn’t do it on my own, Lisa was with me. She knew the spell just as I did. We sent orbs out into the field and then cast the spell on the thing that was out there.”

I looked to Olivia, who sat in silence, watching the conversation unfold.

“Did it charge at you, was there anything else that stuck out to you in the time it took to make it disappear?” Gloria asked.

“No, nothing, I almost don’t think it was there to hurt us or anything. I mean, we were out on that field for a while before Dmitri and Kyle got up.”

The women looked to each other and then back to me. “How much of that book have you read, Celia?” Valerie asked.

And there it was…the question every student is asked when they haven’t done their homework.

“Not much.” I blurted out. “Think about it, I was Just told I was a witch not but a few days ago. I’m given a book that contradicts the way I was raised. It tells me that everything I was told growing up as a child was a lie. I get teleported to this strange woman, who by the way isn’t really alive, who tells me I’m this all powerful witch with a great destiny.” 

Getting up from the table I threw my hands up in the air, “For Christ sakes, it’s Sunday. Can I at least eat some breakfast before talking about demons and spells, before asking me if I know anything about anything?”

“So, I guess the answer to your question is, No.” Olivia answered for me, looking at Valerie with a frustrated eye.

I turned away from them in a huff and stalked off to the fridge, yanking the door open before hearing that the conversation was moving on without me. 

“I will work on getting the protectors to bring in everyone else, but we may have a problem with one.” I heard Gloria say, her tone reserved.

“Yes, I’ve heard it too. Augusta hasn’t been heard or seen of for several months. Aerok took her daughter, Perri, to stay with a guardian in the mean time.”

“What does Aerok have to say, can’t he detect her whereabouts?” Valerie asked the concern clear in her voice.

The more they spoke to one another, the more I realized how I knew them and from where I’d known them. With a glass of milk in hand, I inched ever so carefully back to the table. These were my mother’s friends, from when I was a little girl. I had met on our world travels together. Their voices echoed memories to dance in my head.

“I heard that Desmond wasn’t too far away with Beatrice. Apparently, she is teaching at Harvard this term, here on visa.” Maura added with a smile on her face, gesturing me to sit next to her.

I took her request, but made sure to stay quiet. I could sense the overdrive my brain was functioning in.

Trust them, Celia. These are your sisters in craft. They will hold your life in their hands if they have to.

Closing my eyes for a brief moment,
It’s Sunday, Dmitri, it’s Sunday and I wanted peace today.

I could almost close my eyes and see him sitting and talking to me. 
Yes, it’s Sunday. And as soon as I’m done, I will be over.

“Celia,” Olivia brought me out from the private distraction. “I need you to go through the book in the next couple days. It’s imperative that you know more about what you are up against. Look at your mother, she had decades of knowledge and in a flash they took her out.”

The car accident, the moment the connection was made I could feel my body rising from the seat. “What do you mean they took her out?” I asked bluntly, interrupting the other conversation at the table.

“They, those demons, are responsible for your mother’s death, Celia. But it doesn’t end there. This goes back to the creation of our coven.” Gloria said, “Our coven was created to vanquish them, to send them back to their realm of shadows where they belong, for good. Over the centuries, warlocks of other malevolent covens have sought to bring them out of their realm so to destroy the one immortal coven. Power hunger is a sickness, and they will stop at nothing to destroy the good in the magical world.”

“Your mother said she had figured out how to defeat them once and for all, but they killed her before she was able to disclose the knowledge to anyone in the coven.” Valerie added.

“We had hoped that she had written it in her book or told you.” Gloria said.

“I didn’t even know my mother was a witch, ladies. This all sounds like something out of one of my mother’s fairytales.”

Olivia reached out to the center of the table and picked up the coffee pot. “Something must be done to keep everyone safe.” She said, as she took the pot to the counter.

“I’m telling you, the protectors are working double time, not only protecting us but also our families.” Valerie stated, referring to Kyle taking care of Lisa while pretty much keeping Valerie in hiding.

I looked to Jezebel who had been sitting pretty quiet throughout the whole conversation.

“Does Anabel know that you’re in town?” I asked her.

“No, I have not called or been by the house yet today.” She replied, looking at me as though she would add something but then pierced her lips tight.

“You know she really misses you, that she feels lost and alone because you are never around for her.” I said, not thinking of the consequences my words would have.

“Misses me?” she blurted out in a soft questioning tone.

“Yes, misses you. You may not see it because she is self sufficient but when she heard that my mother had died she was reserved about it. The idea of losing her own mother, when she barely spends time or sees her, was a struggle for her.”  I took a deep breath because the same words applied to Valerie as well.