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Careful, sweet witch, he warns in step beside me. This is all a theory and conjecture. I have no concrete evidence. But I do think that your aunt is much older than she looks. I think she’s been performing ceremonies and rituals for a long time to keep her alive. It explains why her face is often moving. Do you know of Jeremias? He is the head witch of an old order that worshipped a demon called the Dark One. He too has a moving face, though his is comprised of all the sacrifices he’s done over the centuries. Or so they say, anyway. His look darkens. I believe the Dark One and Goruun might be one and the same.
Goruun is a demon? I ask inside my head, hoping he can hear me and if he can’t, at least read the question on my face.
He stares at me for a moment but I am unsure if he heard me. Or maybe they’re not. Leona says he’s a deity to their coven but I think that’s another word for demon to them. So perhaps there are more than one demon that some covens call upon, but it doesn’t really matter because they believe that Goruun does everything for them, including manipulating our lives to put us on their path. Make us caught in their web.
His gaze goes to the cathedral by the woods.
To what end, I don’t know, he goes on. But they worship him. With all that I’ve gathered from your conversation with Sister Sophie, from what Brom has said about your mother, I have reason to think that your marriage to Brom is part of some…ritual, or ceremony, something that involves Goruun. Something that will benefit their coven, hence why I mentioned the immortal part. Your aunt had mentioned the only things that will be left at the end of the world will be ashes and witches.
I swallow hard, having a hard time processing any of this. The world seems to slide away, my vision growing hazy.
He clears his throat, bringing my attention back to him, his gaze steady on me.
We will get to the bottom of this, Kat, he says. Trust me. I know you have feelings for Brom and it’s very clear he has feelings for you, but the both of you must understand that until we figure this out, neither of you can be together. Certainly not in any way that could result in your pregnancy.
I glance at him, eyes wide.
He gives me an uneasy smile. There’s a chance that they have a sacrifice in mind. Perhaps they promised Goruun your future child with Brom.
I stop and shake my head, feeling sick. “No,” I whisper. “They wouldn’t.”
But the look he gives me in return says that they would.
I know you don’t want to think about it, he says softly, his lips barely moving. You don’t need to think about it. No matter what the truth is, no matter what they hope to happen, they aren’t touching you. They aren’t taking you. They can’t force the two of you to become married and they can’t force Brom to get you pregnant. I’ve discussed this with him too, he knows what might be at stake.
He starts walking off and I follow, the sick feeling not leaving me. I wait until we’re out of earshot of people before I whisper, “But they’re witches. They can force us to do many things.”
“And we are witches too,” he whispers back, eyes blazing. “Don’t you forget that. We aren’t defenseless and we aren’t helpless. The more that you and I work together on your magic, on my magic, the more—"
“How is that going to happen? How are you supposed to teach me? We can barely talk to each other now.”
“I am still your teacher,” he says to me starkly. “You are still my student. In class I will teach you, right in front of their prying eyes. But before we can even begin to tackle what the coven wants from the both of you, we have to focus on getting that spirit out of Brom before…”
He doesn’t need to finish that thought.
Before the Horseman takes over him.
Before he becomes a weapon that the coven can control.
Before they make him come after me.
Now I know for sure that the horseman was never meant to kill me.
He was meant to put Brom’s seed in me.
“I think we should leave,” I tell him. “Leave the school. Go past Sleepy Hollow. Somewhere, anywhere.”
He exhales and I hear the weight of the world in his breath. “I agree with you. But the best chance of fixing Brom is here. This is a nexus of energy. There’s a reason the school is built here, why so many ghosts are drawn here. This place gives us the extra power we need to make the ritual work. Not to mention with the horseman still in him, they’ll be able to track him down and use him wherever he goes. Brom won’t get very far.”
