AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jade, look at you! The last time I saw you, you were getting your pigtails caught in your melted ice cream cone while your father chased after Ember, who had caught sight of the soda shoppe.” Her blue eyes crinkled at the corners, misting with a sheen of tears. “But look at you now. So beautiful and poised. Just like Helene, Goddess rest her soul.”
Shocked by the emotions swimming through me as I found myself within her warm embrace, it took me a moment to collect myself enough to whisper, “It’s good to see you too, Aunt Liliane.”?
Her orange blossom and neroli musk assailed my senses, and I found myself transported to the last summer we came to visit before Liliane and Grandmother’s falling out. Somehow, being back here brought them all back to the surface.
Like it was yesterday, I could see my mother’s face streaked with sunlight as she dipped her sunglasses down her face to steal a kiss from my father, who lurked inside the house rather than burn his skin under the July heat.Along with Grandmother, stoic and isolated, much like I had become.
“My, youarewound tighter than a spool of thread,” Aunt Liliane cackled, pulling back to lift a hand to a strand of my hair that fell into my face. “My sister’s influence, no doubt. A few weeks in Salem will cure you of that.”
Demurring from her expectant look, I took in the kitchen instead. Overflowing with magick and the comforts of a well-loved home, I found that canisters filled with tea leaves, spell ingredients, and other grim items not suited for the space one cooked their meals in covered most of the counter surface, while the overhead light hung heavy with drying herbs tightly wound around the beam.
“You have a lovely home. I remember bits and pieces from when we would come visit in the summer. I’m thankful for your offer to help me with my spirit magick.”
Liliane’s brows inched towards her hairline. “A positively diplomatic response, Jade dear,” she drawled with a meaningful grin. “But let’s not pretend you are here of your own volition. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss Rebecca’s orders tomorrow. Come on and meet the rest of the Coven. You remember Willa, don’t you?”
A small grin twitched across my face at my Great Aunt’s longtime sweetheart who kept Liliane on a tight leash when she became too unruly.
As Liliane dragged me outside to the wraparound deck and down the staircase to the rocky beach, the wind tangled my hair in a cyclone of salty air. I brushed it aside as my boots sunk into the sand, approaching the crowd with resignation.
“Everyone,” Liliane announced, quieting the group of witches and warlocks with a faux-stern look, “this is my great niece, Jade Belle, along with Tabitha Harlow from the New Orleans Coven. Girls, this is everyone.”
Awkwardness threatened to take hold, but years of practice made my cool smile easy to conjure.
“Alright, enough standing around!” Liliane clapped, not letting the moment drag. “Jade, Tabitha, you go mingle. Everyone else, I expect you to be on your best behavior tonight.”
With that parting warning, she disappeared back into the house.
“Let’s get this over with then,” Tabitha sighed wearily.
For the next hour, we passed through the crowd like ping pong balls, dragged and turned to meet witches until their faces and names blurred together. Everyone seemed welcoming, if not slightly cautious. Someone handed me a paper plate that I piled high with grilled fish and tender vegetables, but after the long, tedious flight and drive combined with socializing with the Coven, my head pounded with sensory overload.
“Mind if we join you?”?
Tabitha and I turned to three witches near our age already taking seats around the wooden bench. The leader of the group, a witch who appeared as mysterious and seductive as an eighteenth-century courtesan, or one of the beautifully tragic muses depicted in a Raphaelite painting with a mane of red curls, held out her hand.
“I’m Sara.” She grinned, gesturing to the two pretty witches beside her. “And this is Genevieve and Elaine. Welcome to Salem.”
Genevieve kept her arms loosely wrapped around herself but grinned impishly with glinting copper eyes. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you both. Jade, your great aunt never shuts up about you and your sisters. I feel like we practically know you already.”
My brows furrowed as I listened to the deeply musical resonance of her voice with a hint of a Romanian accent as Elaine, a willowy, blonde Fae-like witch with strong water magick emanating from her like a preternatural glow, suddenly clapped me in a brief hug before doing the same to Tabitha.
“We’re just so excited to meet some new witches,” she gushed, reminding me of Isla. “Since Liliane’s taken over as High Priestess, we haven’t had time to host any public rituals and socialize amongst the Covens. You two are the first outsiders to visit in nearly a year.”
Tabitha nodded sagely, her knowing gaze absorbing the dynamics of the Coven scattered along the beach picnic tables. “We can definitely relate. New Orleans has been in a state of flux for nearly a decade after our former High Priest passed away, though with our Council, we’ve branched out to mingle with creatures beyond other Covens.”
“Sounds delightful,” Sara sighed wistfully.
The three witches regaled Tabitha and me with anecdotes from their years living amongst the highest regarded Coven in the States. The gossip was undoubtedly juicy, as one would imagine a large group of powerful and temperamental casters to be.
As time stretched, my mind drifted to the last time I had sat amongst my Coven without the tinge of shame that seemed to adorn me like a scarlet stain. It must have been before Samhain, when my greatest worry was keeping Ember from exploding her magic around the city or getting drunk in the bayou. Ember had come so far, but I couldn’t deny I longed for a purpose.
After my parents died, leaving me with the responsibility of my sisters, alongside my role as the next High Priestess of the Coven, I had done what was necessary to remain the rock for my family. With Audra at Dragomire for most of the year studying to become a sorceress, and Isla traveling around the globe, I felt aimless. Like the one driving force that held my life together had become irrelevant.
Genevieve tapped her nails along her glass beer bottle, jolting me from my darkening thoughts. I realized, with chagrin, that the witch had been speaking to me for some time.
“Sorry, what were you saying?” I asked.
She grinned. “No worries. I’m sure you and Tabitha are exhausted after traveling. I was only asking if Liliane mentioned our plans for tomorrow night. At least twice a month, we come together as a Coven to perform exorcisms. We heard about the recent incident in New Orleans, and would love your insights on the spiritual world.”
