covencraft 04 - dry spells

• CHAPTER ONEParis
  
• CHAPTER TWOJade
  
• CHAPTER THREEIt
  
• CHAPTER FOURWaking
  
• CHAPTER FIVE Jade
  
• CHAPTER SIXThe
  
• CHAPTER SEVENStill
  
• CHAPTER EIGHTJade
  
• CHAPTER NINEThe
  
• CHAPTER TENJade
  
• CHAPTER ELEVENThe
  
• CHAPTER TWELVEJade
  
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN“Is
  
• CHAPTER FOURTEENParis
  
• CHAPTER FIFTEENSeth
  
• CHAPTER SIXTEENJade
  
• CHAPTER SEVENTEENJade
  
• CHAPTER EIGHTEENThough
  
• CHAPTER NINETEENJade
  
• Want More Covencraft?Uncontrollable Burn - Coming 2017About
  
• About
  
• Also
  

Dry Spells (Covencraft #4)

by

Margarita Gakis

This book is available in print at Amazon.com.

Digital Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any character resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DRY SPELLS

Book 4 of Covencraft

Copyright © 2016 by Margarita Gakis

Cover by Steven Novak

My four-legged writing partners - silent, loyal, missed.

CHAPTER ONE

Paris’ mother was beautiful. So beautiful, Jade found it hard to remember the woman was supposed to be dead.

She looked pretty good for a dead woman. Especially given how busy she’d been of late. Haunting Jade’s dreams. Speaking cryptically. Trying to get Jade to split in two.

“Mother.”

It was the second time since he’d seen her that Paris had said the word, ‘mother.’ He said it in a quiet tone, an almost reverent one. Truth be told, Jade didn’t hold any special sentimentality for the word herself. She had no memory of her birth mother, and her memories of Lily’s mother, the mother that raised them were… not fond.

Paris though… Paris looked liked he’d been gutted. This was exactly what Jade wanted to avoid. She wanted to tell Paris that Sakkara, his mother, was the woman who’d been appearing in her dreams. Jade and Lily had dubbed her the Sparrow Lady for the way sparrows to flocked to her in the dream world. But Jade was too late. Before she’d had a chance to break the news to Paris, Sakkara showed up here, now, on Jade’s doorstep.

Which, maybe, was for the best. Honestly, Jade still wasn’t sure what she’d been about to say to Paris.
Hey, remember that time you told me your mom was dead? Yeah, well. About that…I’ve been dreaming of her for weeks, only I didn’t know it was her. And it turns out, she kind of made me split in two.

Sakkara stood in the doorway, smiling. Well, smiling at Paris at least. She shared Paris’ startling blue eyes. Clear and sharp, but darker than the daytime sky. More like the evening sky, after the sun’s gone down, when it hadn’t yet gone dark grey or black. Paris’ expression was one of shock and non-comprehension. Should Jade say something? Should she wait? Try to slam the door in Sakkara’s face? Would Sakkara let that happen or would she have some kind of woo-woo magic to keep the door open, to keep both Jade and Paris there, in front of her? Jade’s hand rested on Paris’ shoulder, her other hand against his back, where she’d placed it just before he’d been compelled to open the door. Jade didn’t want to let go of him. She wanted to stay connected to him; to let him know she was there, but also in case Sakkara forced him to do something more than going to the door and opening it. Paris had been unable to stop himself - moved forward, pulled ahead, by Sakkara’s magic. Although Jade didn’t know if she could stop Sakkara, she wasn’t about to let anything happen without at least trying.

“Not content to use your powers on only me, huh?” Jade said, putting the toughest edge in her voice that she could. “You use your powers on him too.” Jade tipped her head toward Paris. He was conspicuously silent, having not managed a word other than the double utterance of
mother
.

Sakkara’s eyes reluctantly moved from Paris, over his shoulder, to where Jade stood.

“Hello, Jade. It’s… good to see you in the real world.” Sakkara’s voice was even and smooth. Cultured. She had the same British accent that Paris had. It gave everything she said a sort of gravitas. She could swear like a truck driver and it would sound classy.

“The likewise is not true.” Jade tightened her fingers on Paris’ shoulder and tried to tug him back, closer to her. It was a futile gesture. It’s not like Jade’s cottage would be a safe haven from Sakkara. She’d already proven that by casting some kind of dream hex on Jade before. But the … urge to put herself between Sakkara and Paris was gnawing at her gut.

Paris’ hand came up and rested on top of Jade’s fingers, patting them once, as though he were comforting her. Sakkara’s eyes focused in on the gesture, a strange expression coming over her face as she watched, something caught in the trifecta of satisfaction, resignation and relief.

“May I come in?”

Jade’s mouth dropped open before she snapped it shut again. “Really? You’re going to ask for an invite? I would’ve thought you’d just bust in here.”

Sakkara’s mouth thinned. “While I realize you’ve not had the best introduction to me, I’m not a bully.”

Bruce’s loud snorting sound said everything Jade wanted to. Although when she looked down at her lizard, he didn’t seem as disdainful as Jade hoped he would. He honestly appeared to have just got something caught in his nose and was snorting and sniffling to get it out. He sniffed the air around Sakkara and then snorted again, trying to blow out his nostrils. His Elizabethan collar flapped a few times, clearing the air around him.

“Bruce thinks you smell,” Jade said, not really meaning to say the words out loud and realizing how utterly ridiculous they sounded only when she heard them with her own ears.

Sakkara’s lips curled in a wry smile. “I deal with a lot of strange and unusual magic. I suppose he’s picking up on that.”

“Mother,” Paris said again and Jade could feel his muscles shift and bunch under her hands as he straightened. “I thought you were dead. We… all thought you were dead.”

Sakkara’s face softened. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

Sakkara looked sad, conflicted, her eyes moving back and forth between Jade and Paris.

“All right, fine,” Jade said, pulling one hand away from Paris, her jaw tightening. “Get inside before someone sees you. Jesus, that’s all we need - for the rest of the Coven to find out you’re back from the dead.” She made a ‘get in here’ motion with her hand and stepped to the side, Paris moving with her. Sakkara moved with an easy grace, like she was gliding inside instead of stepping. Once inside, Jade felt a small burst of magic come from Sakkara with the faint hint of licorice. The door swung shut without any of them touching it.

“Don’t use your magic in my house,” Jade said. “It’s rude.”

“Of course,” Sakkara acquiesced easily, inclining her head a bit.

“Possum? What’s going on out there? I can’t hear a thing from back here.”

Seth
.

Jade’s fingers tightened on Paris’ shoulder and he squeezed her fingers back in return. Honestly, having a demon in the pantry wasn’t the sort of thing she should just be able to forget about, but with dead mothers coming back from the grave, it had slipped Jade’s mind that Seth was in her kitchen. Sakkara’s eyes darted again to where Jade and Paris’ hands touched. Jade snatched her hand back, gritting her teeth and facing back toward the kitchen.

“Go away, Seth!” she hollered.

“You’ve a demon in your kitchen,” Sakkara said, unnecessarily, her eyes somewhat accusing. It wasn’t like Jade didn’t already know.

“Yeah, like that’s the weirdest thing happening today,” Jade replied, crossing her arms over her chest and looking Sakkara up and down.

“I can keep yelling from here, but it would be easier if you simply joined me,” Seth called out. “La-la-la-la-la. I can keep this up all day, dear Possum.”

Jade’s eyes flickered over to Paris. While he kept his own gaze focused on his mother, he nodded tersely. Jade took that as agreement that they should move to the kitchen.

“I guess I’ll make more coffee if we’re having guests,” Jade muttered.

#

Jade sat with her back against the wall - where she could not only face the pantry and see Seth, but Sakkara as well. From there, she also had a clear line of sight to the back door - an escape route. It wasn’t like she’d abandon Paris to deal with his not-so-dead mother on his own, but she still felt better knowing there was nothing in the way between her and an exit. She was going to make more coffee, really, but then she decided she didn’t feel like playing hostess to the woman who’d been dream-stalking her. She sat down and pointedly sipped her own cup, while leaving Sakkara empty handed. Bruce was a welcome weight against Jade’s calf, his bulk resting heavily against her. To be honest, she kind of thought Bruce would spit and hiss at Sakkara the same way he did at Seth, but he was surprisingly complacent.

Paris sat next to Jade, on her right, which left Sakkara sitting closest to Seth. Seth’s eyebrows crept up his forehead when he saw Sakkara.

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,” he said.

Sakkara took her seat at the table, shifting her chair slightly so that Seth was no longer at her back, but to her side - in her line of sight.

“Seth,” Sakkara acknowledged tightly.

“You two know each other?” Jade asked.

“We know
of
each other,” Seth clarified, grinning. “But never had the chance to meet in person. You know, I don’t know if you’re famous or infamous. What is the criteria for deciding?”

Sakkara’s shoulders tightened. “Does he come by often?” she asked, addressing the question toward Paris.

“Jealous?” Seth broke in.

“Concerned you’ve been poisoning the well,” Sakkara answered, her eyes narrowing as she stared at Seth.

Jade’s gaze moved back and forth between them. Seth was wholly focused on Sakkara and he seemed almost gleeful. Sakkara, in turn, looked like a librarian caught in a bar after hours: uncomfortable and trying to maintain a haughty exterior.

A sharp tingle travelled across Jade’s brain - the familiar sensation of Lily ‘checking in.’

What’s happening? I can feel you from here. You’re….agitated.
Lily’s thoughts were like a cool trickle of water flowing through Jade’s head. She could easily separate them from her own thoughts, but they were still familiar and comfortable. It was almost like talking to herself. Almost. But not quite.

Jade sent the bare minimum back to Lily so as not to be distracted from the scene in front of her, sending her thoughts in short, sharp bursts.

Sparrow Lady - at the house.

Lily - on her way to meet Callie and Henri for yoga - turned the car around with a jerk of her hand. Jade’s stomach lurched as Lily took a turn sharply. It felt like her body was confused for a moment as to where she was - in the kitchen with Paris, or in a car driving. It gave her a peculiar sense of vertigo and she took a deep breath to settle it, looking up and catching Sakkara watching her. A bright burst of pain pulsed through her brain - quick and razor-edged. It left in its wake a sort of throbbing numbness. Another migraine was brewing. She hoped it wouldn’t be as bad as the one she had in the medlab after she and Lily had separated. Jade couldn’t afford to be flattened by the kind of drugs it took to dull the pain.

“I doubt I could poison it much more than you already have,” Seth replied, drawing both Sakkara and Jade’s attention. “I simply have an eye for talent. Possum here has loads. Although I suppose you knew that.” Seth paused, as though waiting for Sakkara to reply. When she said nothing, he continued. “However, I’ve no nefarious motives. At least not any that I’m keeping secret. Unlike some, I wear my intentions, black though they may be, on my sleeve. I’m merely looking to expand my horizons.”

Sakkara turned her gaze from Seth, the gesture clearly meant to indicate she didn’t think him worth her time. The silence in the kitchen stretched out past the point of social norms with only the
tick-tick-tick
of the small clock on the wall marring the quiet. Jade didn’t guess Sakkara would be the chatty type. After all, she’d successfully faked her death for years, deceiving even her own son. She knew how to keep her mouth shut.