Nolan is the only one not to relax after Callie’s demand, but he doesn’t leave and I’m proud of him for it. I know that everything to do with witches shakes him, so for him to stay… Hopefully what Mildred tells us will help set his mind at ease. I know Callie is different, but only her aunt can explain how.
“Very well,” Mildred opens, clearly unhappy, but bending to her niece’s will anyway. “I guess the best place to start is the beginning. Remember how I told you that you were the heiress to two very old, very prestigious families.”
Callie nods and clears her throat. “Yeah, uh, Mom and you are Volkov’s, and my father comes from the Lyncas family even though that’s not his last name.”
“You’re an heiress? Then you’re definitely taking me with you when you buy your first car,” Nolan teases. It comes out flat, but he’s trying.
“Oh no,” she laughs. “No death traps for me even if I do have magical healing powers.”
Callie takes his hand, as if she can sense how hard this is for him, and he runs his thumb along her knuckles. I shake my head and wrap my arms around her waist. She’s about to learn shit that is going to change everything she knows about herself, and yet she still has room to think about the rest of us.
Mildred gives Nolan a pointedbe quietlook, before continuing. “Yes, well, what I didn’t have a chance to explain is how they’re prestigious. The Volkov’s and the Lyncas’ are two of the original seven bloodlines that birthed the race of witches. All the strongest and most influential of our people can trace their lineage back to the original seven.”
“So that’s why the women keep their maiden name?” Callie asks, her head pitched to the side in confusion. “Because being one of these original bloodlines is a big deal.”
Kaleb leans forward, his forearms on his knees, when he sees Mildred hesitate. He doesn’t say anything, but he’s clearly reading something in her body language.
She looks at all of us, her face drawn. “That’s what the council wants us to think,” she proclaims quietly. “I don’t know how much you boys understand about the hierarchy of the witches, but the council is made up of the strongest among us-- the most powerful in both magic and cunning, and it’s through them that our world is shaped. It’s rare that any council member isn’t in some way a direct descendant of one of the seven, and since the tradition has always been this way, no one questioned why female witches of the seven kept their name even after marriage.”
“But that’s not why,” Kaleb leads, his voice the soothing tone he uses with the damaged.
She shakes her head and her red rimmed eyes seek out Callie’s, who stills under the weight of her aunt’s gaze. “Your mother… the council ruled it a suicide, but I knew better. She loved you so much. She would never have willfully abandoned you. I told the council this, but they ignored me-- said I was just distraught and wanting to find reason where there was none, and your father was out of his mind with grief and tried to…” She trails off, taking in her trembling niece.
“Don’t stop,” Callie demands. Her voice sounds as fragile as fine crystal.
Kaleb takes Callie’s other hand, and Donovan slides back over to sit next to her feet, indifferent to the wet tea stain on the rug.
Felix seems to come back to us, carefully walking past to sit on the floor next to Donovan. When this is all over, one of us is going to have to talk to him about what he saw. The last time he was even close to like this it was right after he learned his family died along with him.
Mildred reaches for her tea and grimaces when she takes a sip, the tea likely stronger and bitterer now that it’s cold. “This part is complicated, but I’ll do my best to explain.” She sighs and mutters to herself, “Where to begin?”
Putting her cup back down, she straightens and folds her hands back in her lap. “After your mother’s death, I started doing more research and found Helina was one of many unexplained deaths related to female witches that came from the original seven. I also found that unlike Helina, many for some reason or another had their powers bound as children.”
“And that’s what happened to Callie?” Kaleb asks, concern and academic fascination coming out in equal parts. “Her powers were bound?”
“Why?” Donovan demands, clearly less interested in the how. “What reason could the bastards come up with to bind the powers of a child? And then to just throw her out…”
“I’m getting to that,” Mildred interrupts, annoyance cutting into her earlier sorrow. Honestly, I prefer her this way. Something about a witch as powerful as Callie’s aunt looking helpless doesn’t sit right. “Now, where was I?”
“Unexplained deaths,” Nolan provides, giving Callie’s hand a tight squeeze. It worries me that she has a similar look to the time she first learned she was a witch.
“Right, point is, there were a lot of dodgy instances that didn’t add up when looked at too closely,” Mildred huffs, getting back to her story. “So I looked further, started researching more about the original seven and what made them so special. I found that the original seven weren’t the original bloodlines that all witches came from; they’re the original bloodlines of a special type of witch… a very powerful witch that has access to magics none of the rest of us could hope to duplicate.”
None of us dare to interrupt her when she pauses. It feels like standing at the edge of a cliff, and we’re all jumping off together.
“According to various books and journals I’ve uncovered within the Volkov family seat in Russia, I believe Callie is what’s loosely translated as a Spirit Witch.” Mildred starts to speak faster, a frenzy filling her eyes. “It’s a line of witches that not only has control of all the elements, but the essence of magic itself… of life itself. They were the conduits through which mother earth watched over us all. They were meant to be the ones that ruled over the mortal realm and with their unfathomable power, they could force balance when the need arose. The rest of witchkind were meant to be their eyes and their will, because though there were witches that had some spirit magic, only seven-- one of each bloodline-- were powerful enough to serve as ruler for their respective corners of the world.”
“Force balance,” Nolan breathes so quietly I know I’m the only one to hear.
My wolf is annoyingly calm, which is unfair since I feel like the ground is falling out from under me, and Callie is trembling in my arms. Now I know why she’s different, but I still don’t understand why my wolf cares. Am I simply drawn to her power? Does he know that she’s precious and that’s why we must protect her?
“Callie,” I murmur in her ear.
“Yeah?” she whispers back, her voice small.
“That’s probably why you smell different,” I offer, remembering when she asked Monday at lunch.
She turns her head to look up at me and squints. “Because I’m some type of ancient uber powerful witch that’s supposed to rule over everyone, but there’s a conspiracy perpetuated by the council to ensure nobody knows about them?” She drawls.
