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“No. Yuh don’t.” Conrad said, getting to his feet. “Wi need to get Rayven out of here. Now.” Clair looked at me sadly.
“I knew when I adopted you, this day would come.” She said, reaching out to stroke my hair. She turned to Conrad as the house shook again. I could suddenly hear Meredith’s voice outside shouting spells and what could only be a magickal duel taking place. Conrad looked relieved at the sound of her voice.
“Di wards were set tuh alert Walter Abbey and Meredith if wi were attacked. Dey should bi able tuh distract Kieran and Marcus long enough fah us tuh escape.” He explained urgently. Clair’s eyes widened.
“Kieran is here?” She gasped. I don’t know why, at this point, that anything could still surprise me.
“You know who Kieran is?” I asked.
“Everyone knows who Kieran is,” Clair said angrily, the way she said it, made my blood turn cold.
42
Clair looked invincible standing there in the doorway. Her lilac nightgown falling past her knees, the now bloody candlestick held loosely in her hand.
The wards to the house absorbed another blast and I cried out, ducking my head under my hands as more books spilled out of their shelves. She spun around to Conrad.
“We don’t have much time,” she said. “You’re going to need all the help you can get to make it out of here.” Conrad nodded earnestly. “Do you know the unbinding charm?” She asked him, her voice steady.
“Mi granny taught it to mi years ago. Mi think mi still remember it.”
“I bound myself long ago, after I met Jeremy, and before I adopted Raven. I can still do small magicks, but I don’t have enough access to my powers now to help you. You will have to unbind me quickly. I cannot cast it onto myself.” Conrad set his jaw and stepped forward.
“Dis is going tuh hurt,” he said darkly. Clair met his eyes without flinching.
“I know,” she responded. “Raven. Stand back.” I stood frozen.
“Mom, we don’t have time for this. They’re coming.”
“I said stand back, Raven.” This was not the Clair I knew. This powerful woman was not the soft-spoken, kind mother that had raised me. But to the core of my soul, I knew she would defend me to the end. I dipped my head in consent and stepped back.
Conrad laid his hands on either side of my mother’s face. They both closed their eyes simultaneously, and my aura almost immediately reacted to the power that stirred in my bedroom. It started off gently. The air around them began to swirl. Where Conrad’s palms touched Clair’s cheeks, a white light began to grow.
“Mi hands belong tuh di goddess an wid dem hands yah, mi bring har pickney back tuh har.”
The power built around them, the white light growing brighter and brighter. Clair began to scream as the magick entered her. Her body seized and I cried out. I took a step forward but a blast of energy threw me back into my desk, the corner hitting me in the back, hard. As the magick built, my own aura responded to it, reaching forward. I heard the words spoken back to me in English.
‘My hands belong to the goddess, and with these hands, I bring her child back to her.’ Conrad continued the spell, his voice rising to be heard above the whirlwind that was tearing my already destroyed bedroom apart.
“Wid di powah a di Maidin, di Madda an’ di Crone, mi bring di dawta back a yawd.”
My aura spread before me, the universe of my soul binding with the magick, allowing me to understand the words.
‘With the power given to me by The Maiden, The Mother and The Crone, I bring this Daughter of the Moon home.’
And then I could see them. The Maiden appeared, her gown of white and gold flowing around her perfectly sculpted body. Her face was so beautiful it drew a tear to my eye. She walked towards Conrad, her transparent body layering itself over his. She rested her hands on Clair’s face.
“I bring to you, Daughter of the Moon, the gift of strength, energy, and the uncorrupt nature of magicks.”
Next came The Mother. Her belly was swollen with new life, her breasts supple and her face kind.
“I bring to you, Daughter of the Moon, the responsibility of motherhood and the ouroboros of love that accompanies it.” She layered herself over Conrad and The Maiden, joining her hands with theirs on the side of Clair’s face.
The swirling power expanded around us, and we existed in the center of the magickal storm. Tiny orbs of glowing light floated in and out of my aura’s stars and planets. I could feel the earth as it spun on its axis. Clair’s screams had died and her eyes had opened.
She stared through the ceiling, and suddenly I could see the night sky above us. It was so beautiful. Tears streamed down Clair’s face and she held her arms out at her side, her nightgown whipping in the magick surrounding her. With her arms spread wide and her face tilted towards the heavens, she accepted The Crone as she appeared. The old woman came to us in a simple tunic. She was hunched over a twisted wooden cane, her arthritic hands were bent and hobbled with time. Deep lines that carved the contour of her archaic face were lit with burning internal light, and her milky white eyes settled on my mother.
“Daughter of the Moon.” She said in her ancient voice, “You ask us to unbind you. All great magicks come at a price. Do you accept the conditions of these gifts?” I was filled with a sense of dread. What price? Clair smiled and beckoned to The Crone to come to her.
