Branch: Primal (Icicles)
Branch: Psychic (Banshee’s Wail)
Branch: Bestial (Familiar)
“I see I’m not the only one lugging around massive equipment.” Tara eyed the grimoire strapped to Katherine’s hip.
A huge book, twice the size of a standard grimoire, and barely contained in Katherine’s customized holster. She unstrapped it and held it in her hands. Katherine walked alongside Tara,showing off her new grimoire. Well, her old grimoire, by the looks of the cracked, creased binding of the book.
“Fancy,” Tara said. “Or what’s the opposite of fancy? Vintage? Can grimoires be vintage?”
Name: Katherine Harris
Branch: Enchantment (Spell Craft)
“Yes and no.” Katherine held the book close. “My mom suggested I come with something impressive for my internship, something that shows my mentor I’m ready for anything.”
“And this book does this how?”
“It’s a rarity. My family has a lot of one-of-a-kind and long-since forgotten grimoires,” Katherine explained. “This one happens to predate the fall of magic. Apparently, the Harris women passed it down over the generations, and many of them tried to access the spells with no success during the Eras of Silence.”
Eras of Silence. A reference to the hundreds of years, magic had died out. No one knew why, but magic had vanished for many years before returning. Some people knew. I had access to the memories of three witches, the Sisters Three, who knew of life before the fall of magic, but their memories were so jumbled and guarded that I’d barely made sense of any of it. Hell, understanding Milo’s visions was easier than making sense of those dead witches’ memories.
“And your mom seriously let you bring that?” Tara’s question drew my thoughts back to the present and away from the mission I had, the one where I would bring down the Celestial Coven.
A twinge of guilt hit me, merging with a memory Tara kept close to the surface of her thoughts. Brewing like a storm above her ocean of sorrow lay the revelation Enchanter Evergreen shared with her over the summer. I couldn’t in good conscience let the Global Guild make moves against the Celestial Coven without sharing the very twisted truth with Tara.
Tara stared blankly at Milo, completely dumbfounded by the news of The True Witch, the woman who aligned herself with Theodore Whitlock, the witch who planned to conquer the world.
“Of course she couldn’t have just abandoned me,” Tara had said to Milo, eyes flitting to the screen which projected her father since he still remained out of the country for business, but in truth, I suspected he hid from Amara and her coven. “So, she wants to unleash Hell and thinks I’m the key to this plan?”
Milo had nodded. It pained me still that he’d held back certain details, but Tobias Whitlock and the Global Guild were firmly on the same page: Tara didn’t need to know the full extent of her mother’s power or how she believed her daughter was a goddess meant to rule over everything. It was deranged. But that whole Celestial Coven held fancies of godhood, deluding themselves into believing their witchcraft held some sacred, ancient secrets.
What would Tara do when she learned her mother was the immortal leader of a coven bent on destroying the world because they believed in the gods of old?
“This fucking family.” Tara burst into laughter. “I swear.”
“It’s important to note that Theodore may not be working with her willingly.”
“Of course not. She’s planning to control the world, and he wants to burn it all down.” Tara shrugged, then cut her gazetoward her father. “But I’m sure neither would be profitable to Whitlock Industries, so hopefully, our shareholders devise a perfect plan.”
“This is serious, Tara,” Tobias finally spoke up.
“You can tell me all about how serious it is the next time I see you.” Tara closed the computer and smiled at Enchanter Evergreen. “If that sums everything up, I should get going. School’s around the corner, and I’ve updated my casting permit yet again.”
With that, Tara kept the sadness of the memory buried and out of reach. It didn’t pain her because she didn’t dwell. Worse, she ignored it.
I shook away the memories Tara held, focused my telepathy, and stayed grounded here and now. There wasn’t much I could enjoy with the stress of The True Witch and her coven looming in the world, threatening everyone, but I’d be damned if that fear stole today from me. I wanted to be present, see my students’ arrival, watch the looks on their faces as they were assigned mentors, and silently cheer for them and all their successes.
“When you land an internship with who I landed with, definitely.” Katherine’s smile blossomed, reeling me closer.
She truly felt on top of the world, her thoughts soaring with excitement for today. Mostly for herself and the hope she had to impress her mentor, but also as she made her way inside, her thoughts flitted with excitement for her peers, her friends, and even the students at Gemini she didn’t recognize in the lobby.
Trailing outside, not too far from Katherine and Tara, was another pair I had looked forward to seeing again.
“Sup.” Carter fist-bumped a friend of his from the tennis team with his free hand before being dragged away by Jennifer, who had her fingers interlocked with his other hand. “Whoa!”
Carter took dramatic tumbling steps beside his girlfriend, half playful and half serious, since Jennifer didn’t let up until they escaped the growing crowd.
