Mark of the Witch (Boston Witches) (12 page)

Jilly frowned slightly, not wanting to hurt Caroline’s feelings. “Those were simple spells; this is not. I’ve never seen a more complicated spell. I don’t even know if we’ll be prepared before the meeting with Sabine.”

William looked up from the pan he was tending. “We may not need it tomorrow, Jill. I don’t think she’ll do anything until after we hear what she wants. You’re valuable to her for some reason, and she won’t risk hurting you. I’m happier knowing we’ve got it as backup.” He turned toward Caroline and spoke directly to her. “I think you should listen to Jilly. I don’t want you getting hurt trying to do a spell you aren’t ready for. I know she would be heartbroken if anything happened to you.” His tone was firm, but his words were gentle.

Caroline blushed furiously and smiled at him. “I’ll listen, I promise. I just want to help any way I can.”

Jilly hugged her sister. “You’ve helped a ton, and I never would have found the spell without you.”

Caroline flushed with pleasure. She hadn’t realized how much her sister’s approval meant to her.

William went back to the pasta sauce he was stirring, and added a few more things to it after tasting. Jilly went to the pantry with the paper the spell was on to see if they even had what was needed to complete it. They were missing a few ingredients, but she figured she could send William out later to grab them. She grabbed a few Cokes out of the fridge and passed them out to everyone before perching on a bar stool at the counter.

“Do you think I should call Emily? I’m torn. I really don’t want her involved in this, but I need the help.”

“No, leave her out of it. You’ll have the help you need, don’t worry.”

“What does that mean? Who’s going to help me, you?” she said sarcastically.

“Actually, yes; I’m what you would call a warlock, but I have been called many things.”

Jilly’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Why didn’t you say something before? You told me everything else, why not this?” She had warring emotions. Between annoyance and curiosity, curiosity won out.

“Besides my brother, you two and my friends Nik and Kat are the only other people on earth who know. I don’t care for others of my kind to know for fear that they would find a way to use me to do evil.” He paused a moment and pointed at Jilly. “I’m powerful, but nowhere near where you are. I’ve never seen anyone like you in my entire life. It’s like you have magic in your veins flowing like blood. You’re really phenomenal.” He paused to dump the pasta in the boiling water. “I think that is why Sabine wants you so much, and I’m afraid it’s my fault. She never would have found you if I hadn’t returned home. She’s always hunting me. I thought it was safe because I had heard she was in Norway, but I guess my information was bad.” Both girls sat in stunned silence as he joined them around the counter.

“Ok, so is the fact that you’re a warlock why we have the connection?”

“No, I don’t think so, although it’s a possibility. I’ve known many witches over the years, but none like you.” His eyes burned into hers as he spoke. The look in his eyes spoke of more than just magic.

She felt heat rising from her toes to her hair, and her skin took on a faint golden glow.

“Um, Jill?” Caroline said. “You’re glowing.”

“I’m what?” She ran over to the mirror in the living room to look at herself, and sure enough, she was glowing. She returned to the kitchen and sat back down.

“Have you ever glowed like that before?” William asked.

“Just my hands, and only when I’m doing a spell, or when I rub them together.”

“This is an interesting turn of events.” He moved closer to her and touched her cheek. The glow grew brighter at his touch. “Very interesting indeed. It’s as though your magic is calling out to mine, I can almost hear it in my head.” He cocked his head toward, her listening to something neither girl could hear. He got up and stood in front of her and placed his hands on her cheeks. The glow was almost blinding now, and Jilly could hear a faint singing in her ears, like the sound of her blood rushing past her eardrums. She placed her hands on his cheeks too and closed her eyes. She could immediately feel the heat come to her fingertips, and the noise in her head was deafening. A smile spread across her face, the feeling of pure joy coursing through her.

Finally they both stepped back and Jilly opened her eyes. She saw that William was glowing now too; a bright silvery white light illuminated his skin. Caroline was sitting with her hand over her mouth, watching in silence.

“Well, that was something, wasn’t it?” William said with a laugh. He went around the counter to stir the pasta in the water to avoid clumps, lifted the lid on the sauce, and gave that a stir as well. “Five minutes until dinner, so if someone could set the table while I finish up here that would be great.”

“So we’re just going to pretend like that was normal?” Caroline asked incredulously.

“Well, it’s obviously not normal, but I don’t really have an explanation for it right now, so I figured we’d discuss it later. Plus, I’m hungry,” William said with a sheepish grin.

Caroline set the table as Jilly helped with the salad, and William got out a big bowl for the pasta. A few minutes later, they were all seated at the table, eating.

“This has certainly been an interesting trip home for me,” Caroline said wryly. “This is not at all what I expected I would be doing when I decided to come, but I’m really glad I came. My life has been a mess for years. I’ve always felt like something was missing or off. I understand what it was now; I was denying who and what I am. Nothing I did before now would ever have been right.”

Jilly put her hand on her sister’s. “I’m glad too, Car. You’ve been amazing with all of this, and I’m glad you’ve finally come to terms with who you are.” She squeezed her sister’s hand.

They finished eating in silence, all of them lost in their own thoughts.

After they cleaned up the kitchen, Caroline went upstairs to practice her spells, and Jilly and William went into the living room. After lighting the fire, William sat down and pulled her close to him, breathing in the scent of her hair. “You smell like vanilla and peaches. It’s intoxicating.”

“That’s my shampoo. I made it myself. I’m glad you like it.” She smiled and nuzzled in closer to him, enjoying the warm feel of him against her. “So, do you really not know what’s going on between us? You looked like you had something to say before, but you didn’t want to talk in front of Caroline.” She turned to face him on the couch.

He pulled her in for a quick kiss before responding. “Yes, I know what’s going on. I’ve seen it only once before in Nikolai and Katya. It’s sometimes called soul mates, but that’s not exactly what it is. We were marked for each other at birth, Jilly. Something inside of us calls out to the other. I knew for sure when I saw the glow; I had only suspected before. I have walked this world alone for hundreds of years, trying to find you. I thought it was Liza I was searching for before, but it was you. I felt a connection with her, but I think that is because you would come from her family line.” His voice was full of emotion as he spoke to her, his eyes shining brightly in the firelight. “I’ve been fighting the urge to come home for a long time. I never knew what was calling me back until now.” He stopped talking and looked into her eyes. The emotion behind his words nearly took her breath away.

“So what does this mean? Do we have to get married or something? Because I like you and all, but I don’t really know you all that well yet.”

“No, we don’t have to get married, although maybe in the future that could be an option,” he said with a laugh. “This is a rare thing we have, Jilly. I don’t want to scare you, but you are it for me now. I feel it in my bones; you’re what I’ve been missing all these years. I’ll go as slow as you want, but I need to be near you.” The look in his eyes spoke of a lifetime of longing, and her heart broke for the years he spent alone.

She was a little taken aback by all of this, but something in her knew what he was saying was right. She felt complete when he was around. She reached for him and pulled him in close.

“I don’t know about forever yet, but right now is pretty good, and I’d like to see where this goes. I feel like a void in my life has been filled, and I’m happy for the first time in years. I think you’re responsible for it, but only time will tell.”

He pulled her in for a kiss, winding her hair up in his hands. She could hear his magic calling to her as they kissed. The sound was intoxicating. After a few minutes, they pulled apart.

“There a few other things I should tell you,” William said as they both settled back into the cushions. “First, you don’t need to use potions to do big spells; your power is strong enough to stand alone. Potions are sort of a conduit for magic. As you know, there are various herbs and substances that can act as a catalyst for witches. You don’t need anything else; just what flows inside of you.”

“So why didn’t anyone ever write this down in the grimoire? There have been countless generations of witches in my family. Someone should have recorded that.”

“I’m not sure anyone ever experienced this. You are the strongest witch in your family line to date, Jilly.”

“Ok, so what else?”

“Since we are marked for each other…”

Jilly interrupted; “You keep saying marked. What does that actually mean?”

“It means what it sounds like; we are physically marked for each other.” William pulled up his sleeve and showed her the tiny star-like birthmark on the inside of his wrist. Jilly pulled up her sleeve as well and revealed the same birthmark in the same exact spot.

“Wow, freaky,” she said.

“Yes, freaky, I noticed yours the first day we met,” he said with a laugh. “As I was saying, since we are marked for each other, when we touch our powers become stronger and join together. The magic flows through us as though we are one body and we are infinitely stronger.”

She sat thinking for a minute, trying to absorb what he had told her. “Does everyone have a match out there?”

“Usually no, but in strong magical families it can happen more than once. I wouldn’t be surprised if your parents or grandparents were marked for each other.”

“Is it normal for your kind to have magic?”

“No. As far as I know, only myself, Nikolai, and Katya possess magic. I don’t know why we are the only ones though; there are still a lot of mysteries about my kind that I need to solve.”

Jilly had no more questions to ask, so she leaned into William and watched the flames dance in the fireplace for a while. She had a sudden thought and turned her head toward him. “Do you think Patrick and Mary were marked for each other?”

“It’s possible they were, but I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure. It would certainly explain her behavior toward him and her fierceness in trying to protect him from her family.

“It’s getting late. We should get to bed; we have all week to explore this new bond.”

He walked her upstairs to her room and kissed her goodnight at her door.

Caroline fell asleep as soon as she went upstairs; the day’s events had taken a toll. She dreamt of Jack, when they first met. She had just moved to New York, and was sitting in the park enjoying the sun and watching the people pass her by. Jack had sat down on the next bench with a cup of coffee and the paper, and he had spilled his coffee all over himself. Caroline had immediately jumped up and helped him. He’d said he knew right away she wasn’t from New York when she helped him.

Her dream took her through their early days as a couple, when love was blooming in her heart. She saw when he proposed to her after they had been dating for a year, and she saw her wedding. Her dad walking her down the aisle, and Jilly sitting in the front row, wearing a sad smile. She saw all of the happy moments in their marriage, all of the birthdays and vacations.

Finally, she saw Jack, but it wasn’t her he was kissing; it was a petite blond. He looked at her adoringly. Tears streamed down Caroline’s cheeks as she watched them. Finally, she saw the final scene in her marriage; when she confronted Jack. She saw the hurt etched onto her face as she read the emails. She heard the words they said to each other, and she saw him leave, tears in his eyes.

The dream changed then. Everything was dark, but she heard a voice. The voice was vaguely familiar. It told her that Jack didn’t deserve her; she belonged with someone more like herself. “We need each other, Caroline.” She got a vague impression of a handsome face with bright blue eyes, and then everything went dark.

*

Jilly was exhausted, her whole body was tired, and she fell asleep quickly. Liza was standing in front of her in an unfamiliar room when she opened her eyes. She smiled at her as she spoke, but Jilly could see the seriousness in her eyes.

“You need to be wary of Sabine. She is not acting alone. There is another whose power is great. Be careful, my child, and trust in yourself. Your power is strong and will see you through. Unite yourself with William, for together you cannot fail.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“The dead see all, Jillian.”

Everything in the room shifted and Jilly was suddenly outside in the dark. She saw Sabine by the mouth of a cave, speaking to someone that she couldn’t see.

“I’m trying to do as you wish, but the girl is being difficult. If I bring her to you, then William is mine; that was our deal.” There was a muffled sound like talking, but it was too low for Jilly to hear.

A second later, Sabine shrank away in fear. “Yes, I will deliver her to you tomorrow, I promise.”

Everything shifted back, and Jilly was once again facing Liza.

“I cannot tell you where they are, for I do not know; only that they are by the water in a cave. Remember, trust in yourself, and in William and you cannot fail.” She pressed a kiss to her cheek and everything went black.

Jilly woke up in a cold sweat, and went into the bathroom to splash some water on her face. When she returned to her room, William was sitting on her bed. She let out a little shriek of surprise and covered her mouth quickly.

“What are you doing in here? You scared me to death!”