Magick (Book 3 in the Coven Series) (6 page)

“And she kept the Beginning Book,” I say. “So how did it end up lost?”

“Penelope and her friends moved away, too. It was too dangerous to stay anywhere near Salem in those days. Twenty years went by before Penelope told the others about the books. The Beginning Book was passed down through the Davenport line for years until it was lost during a cholera epidemic during the 1800s. One of my ancestors, Marva Davenport, was on a wagon train to California when she was struck with cholera. She was left behind to die. She beat the disease and survived, but not before she’d wandered away from her possessions while running a high fever.”

“And the book was lost,” I say.

Sarah nods. “When Marva recovered, she was so hurt by the fact that her family had left her to die that she didn’t try to find them. She made her way back to Salem. She located the descendants of the other three original Bane, and they came back, too, though they kept a very low profile.”

“They up and left their lives to move back here? Why?” Egan asks.

“Why did you come here?”

“For answers,” I say.

“Since the days of the Salem witch trials, any witch descended from the original dark witches feels drawn here. They might not realize that is what they are feeling, and I suspect the covens have done a good job over the centuries of trying to root out that yearning because of the territorial nature of dark witches.” Sarah taps her knuckles against the chair arms. “There is something none of us understand at play, something rooted in the earth’s way of keeping balance. Even though there are other fissures in the earth where dark magic seeps to the surface, I believe none of them are stronger than the one here where the first covens drew their power. Because of its strength, I think it serves as a sort of homing beacon for dark witches. It would have eventually brought them all back to Salem, even without Jax’s surge of magic.”

My stomach churns at the idea. “Just not as soon.”

Sarah shrugs. “Maybe, maybe not. I think the earth has been out of balance too long, and that’s why you were drawn here. I have researched extensively about witchcraft and dark forces around the globe. One thing I’ve noticed is that the world is like a pendulum. Nature will only let things swing one way for so long before they are brought back toward the middle.”

I remember the conversation I had with Fiona about this very thing, balance. It’s coming up too often for it to be a coincidence. “So somehow you believe what’s happening now is the beginning of the pendulum swinging back?”

Sarah looks at me, then at everyone else in the room. “I do.” As is her habit, Sarah stands and begins walking around the room as she continues. “You asked how the Bane came into being, if we are dark witches. The answer is yes and no. Back when Anne Reedy died, she didn’t even know about white witches. None of the girls did until Penelope stole those books. The Beginning Book said that in each generation of witches one would be born with the ability to choose to become a white witch, a witch who could bring the supernatural power back into balance.”

I glance at Egan and Keller and see they realize the same thing I do, that what Sarah is saying came either from another source or the missing page of the Beginning Book.

“Penelope and the other girls were sure one of them was the white witch, so they went to the spot where the original covens had drawn out their dark power. They did a spell they thought would allow them to put the dark power back where it came from, but the spell backfired. Their power became really unstable, and they were almost caught fleeing again. Benjamin Latimer came to the rescue a second time. When his family fled, he told Penelope where they were going. So she led the girls to his doorstep.”

Keller leans back in his seat. “Why would he have told her that? She was a dark witch and a danger to his family.”

The answer comes to me with absolute certainty. “Because he loved her.”

Sarah nods. “Love makes us do crazy things, even putting our lives on the line to protect the ones we love.”

Keller meets my eyes. He’s given up a lot for me in the name of love. I risk a small smile, trying to tell him without words how much he means to me. What his sacrifices mean.

“But you all already know that,” Sarah says. “Benjamin convinced his mother to try to help the girls, but at a price. After she helped them, they would have to leave and never contact her family again.”

Sadness wells within me at the cost. “Did Penelope love Benjamin, too?”

“She was beginning to, but it was too dangerous for them to be together. She knew that, and she knew that without his mother’s help she and her friends might end up hurting him and his family.”

“So she agreed to the condition.”

“Yes, without Benjamin’s knowledge. Mr. Latimer was a silversmith, so his wife had him make four bracelets. When he was done, she washed them in a combination of water and herbs meant to ward off evil. It was simple earth magic, but it was enough to settle the girls’ unstable power. Benjamin’s mother told him that she needed more herbs to help the girls, and when he was out in the woods gathering them the girls left. Penelope watched him for awhile, saw how angry he was with his mother. It broke her heart, so one night she left him a note telling him to forgive his mother because she saved Penelope and her friends. And that he should live a good life and be happy. That night Penelope and her friends left the area.”

As a lull settles on the room, I try to sift through all of the information that’s been revealed tonight and what else there is still to learn.

“I’m confused,” Egan says, interrupting the lull. “If Penelope and her friends thought one of them was the white witch, how did they figure out it was actually the other chick?”

“That came years later, and quite by accident. With the books gone and Anne dead, the founders of the covens thought they’d eliminated any knowledge of white witches and thus any potential for dissent among the ranks. What they didn’t know was that Anne’s younger sister had witnessed her death.”

A jolt goes through me. The poor child.

“Anne’s father was forcing her to practice with her new dark magic, and she didn’t want to. It didn’t feel right to her,” Sarah says. “But he kept pushing until she got so angry that something else showed itself.”

“Her white magic,” I say. My skin tingles with the revelation. I know exactly what Anne felt, that rush of massive power, the intense brightness as the light exploded within me. My heart sinks. I can’t feel that now, and a large part of me is scared to try to find it again even though I know I have to.

“The founders who had read the Beginning Book knew what she was. They called a meeting of all the heads of the dark covens, a Conclave, to discuss what to do. It was decided that Anne had to be put to death. And so she was, her neck snapped by her own father as her sister watched through a crack in the door. The little girl was so frightened that she never spoke of it, not until she was old and nearing death herself. That’s when she told her daughters and granddaughters the story.”

“Legend says that each generation has a potential white witch,” Piper adds. “Every ten years the covens hold a Conclave to determine if anyone has identified that generation’s potential white witch.”

“Wait,” Egan says. “We know about these Conclaves. They’re held to conduct inter-coven business, arrange marriages between covens to form alliances.” He glances at me. “Our fathers had that plan up their sleeves before we flew the coop.”

Piper looks at him. “I’m sure they do those things, but the main reason is the white witch threat.”

“What is the threat?” I ask.

“All we know is that if a white witch comes into her full powers, she’s supposed to be able to defeat the covens,” Sarah says.

“How?” I ask.

“That knowledge was lost along with the Beginning Book.”

Egan curses. “You better hope that this harness hasn’t caused us to lose this generation’s chance to defeat them.”

A vibration starts in my wrist and travels up my arm. For a brief moment, I swear I feel the prickle of electricity at my fingertips. Unable to sit still, I stand and pace the length of the room. My brain feels like it’s on the verge of overload as I think back over everything Sarah has told us. I catch myself running my fingertips over the silver bracelet. I turn and meet Sarah’s gaze across the room. “Let’s find out.”

Sarah shakes her head. “Not now.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s been a very long day and we all need rest.”

“I can rest later when I don’t have a bunch of angry witches itching to kill me and anyone else who gets in their way.”

Sarah levels her most serious look at me. “Do you feel strong enough to resist the full force of your dark magic right now? Answer me honestly.”

I open my mouth but stop when I meet Keller’s eyes. I imagine doing to him what I did to Amos Barrow, all because I make a stupid move. Reluctantly, I shake my head. “No.”

“Then tomorrow morning is soon enough.”

Though it kills me to admit it, to do nothing, I know she’s right. If waiting until the morning will help ensure I don’t accidentally kill everyone around me, then I’ll wait.

Toni takes a step toward me. “Come on. Let’s get some sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“You go on.”

Toni looks about to say something else when Egan tugs lightly on her hand. After a brief glance and smile toward him she returns her gaze to me. With a reluctance in her eyes that makes my heart squeeze, she finally turns away. I watch as Egan eases his arm around her shoulders and leads her down the hall.

Without looking at Keller, I start walking in the opposite direction. He doesn’t speak but falls into step beside me. His presence surprises me despite his vote of confidence earlier. He remains quiet as we wander the corridors. I feel a bit like I’m twisting my way through a mouse maze.

Eventually, I find myself outside the room where I was kept after being brought here. I pull on the door, expecting it to be locked. But it’s not. It creaks a little as it swings open, and I walk inside. I stop and stare at the large chair bolted to the floor.

“What is this place?” Keller asks as he stops beside me.

“Where I woke up when the poison wore off.”

I don’t need witch power to sense Keller going rigid. After a breath, he walks forward and lifts one of the chains attached to the chair arm. He looks back at me with a mixture of disbelief and his handsome features stretched by a fury that would have seemed less out of place before I killed Barrow. “They chained you like an animal?”

“I am an animal, Keller. One you promised to put down if I went too far.”

He drops the chain, filling the stone room with the echo of the clanging metal hitting the floor. He strides across the room and leans his palms against the far wall. “Despite what happened, I’m not going to apologize for not killing you.”

“You can’t stand there and tell me you didn’t think I was totally gone as you watched me kill a man.”

He spins toward me. “I can say that,” he says, raising his voice. He beats his fist against his chest. “Despite what my eyes were seeing, despite how it went against everything I’d ever been taught, I believed in my heart, deep down, that you could be saved. That there was still good in you somewhere.” He stares at me for a long moment. “I had to believe it, Jax, because I couldn’t stand the idea that the girl I loved was really gone.”