AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The Hermit. You’re holding onto your fear of the unknown. Your fears of a life you hadn’t planned for yourself, wallowing in your loneliness.”
Ouch.My stomach twisted, and I reached for a slab of fudge to distract myself as she continued flipping over cards and reading me for filth.
The Moon reversed. The Hierophant. And then the card depicting a couple embracing in a time old position—the Lovers.
The cards could symbolize my growing feelings for Alexei, coinciding with the exploration of my magick. My wistful contemplation faded into quiet horror as the last card stared back at me like an omen, dark and macabre.
The Magician, while typically a benign card, looked eerily ominous in the artwork Liliane painted. His dark hood revealed skeletal limbs, a grim reaper of sorts, grasping a beacon of light in one hand and a blood-red pomegranate in the other.
Life and death forever fighting for balance.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as my stomach lurched once more.
“The Magician is not all bad.” Liliane pursed her lips, picking up on the shifts in my emotions. “He represents trickery and illusions, sure, but also hope and creation. Only you can determine what future you seek and make that your reality.”
If only I trusted myself enough to allow that possibility.
Her eyes were perceptive as she lifted my empty mug, peering into the bottom of my cup. Whatever she saw couldn’t be good. Her hands shook and when she looked up at me, her face appeared paler than before.
I wanted to run. I didn't need any other sign from the Goddess to know that my path was rife with dangers that could spell my doom.
Gruffly, she stood and rinsed out our mugs without another word. “I was thinking we could start with a diagnostic spell before we get into the nitty gritty work. Really delve into the origin of your affinity manifestation and what makes your magick lash out.”
It was a spell I had once performed on Ember when she struggled with her magick. Briefly, I measured the benefit of revealing the truth: that my explosive use of spirit magick wasn’t because of lacking control, but because of the talisman I wore on the night of the masquerade.
But some secrets needed to remain hidden.
I had never been on the receiving end of this spell, and it felt strange to find myself prodded over and studied by Liliane’s curious stare. The tendrils of her magick edged towards me, and the spell hovered over me like oil in water, seeking its prey. When Liliane raised a hand towards me, she called forth my magick, seeking the power within me.
For a moment, it fought against her defensively, but she was persistent.
The spell gained strength as her spirit affinity worked to harness mine. I tried to open my mind, to let my power creep out, but the kitchen suddenly felt at once claustrophobic and like an endless hole of nothingness, unlike anything I had felt before.
“Come on, dear. I’m almost there,” Liliane murmured.
My magick tried once more to protect me from the onslaught, but in the next breath, my eyes rolled back into my head. Blackness dotted my vision as my mind transported back to that awful night.
The Coven’s gardens had been massacred, the battle already underway as demons portaled through our protective borders in hordes. In the hazy memory, I turned towards Isla and Audra, their jewel-colored dresses stained with mud and gore as they kept close behind me.
We hadn’t been trained for this kind of violence, and Isla's wide eyes tracked with terrified tears that had haunted me since.
“Go into the estate!” I had yelled at them as a giant demon surged towards us.
My hands shook as I sent offensive spells his way, realizing with dread that none would work against his impenetrable exterior. And then, from the fog, like a knight in shining armor, Alexei had appeared.
The vampire’s torn shirt revealed pale skin, devoid of any blood from his kills despite his silver blade being stained scarlet. His intense gaze swallowed mine before he changed his course, intent on killing the creature surrounding me and my sisters.
An amused chuff echoed in my brain.
“Very juicy indeed, but not the memory we need,” Liliane snickered. “Further on. Keep going—Ah, there it is.”
Bile rose in my throat as my head pounded with the flash of memories, moving too fast for me to process. When I could focus once more, I was standing before Carreau, my sisters’ hands in mine. Grandmother’s presence beside us was a comfort and a strength as she urged us towards the justice we longed for.
I felt the moment the spirit affinity awoke inside me. Detached from my physical body, I could now see that the magick didn’t suddenly appear like the lightning bolt of power I originally thought. Instead, it felt like a part of me finally awakening. A part of me that had existed inside all along, hidden just under the surface.
Liliane’s whispered spell grew in volume until the echoes rang in my ears.
Another splitting pain seared my skull, and then she released me.
