A Late Summer Bloom (23 page)

He looked at her outstretched hand, but stood to the side, allowing her
to pass.

Alone, she forged her way ahead without looking back. Knowing that he
followed behind her would have to placate her, for now. She thought it ironic,
since only a short time ago she had followed behind him.

A man was just beyond the gates, standing straight, his hands clasped
behind his back. When she approached, she smiled, while noting his unease. His
body seemed unbending and stiff, but as she moved closer, she saw the tension
leave his limbs.

Who is he looking at? Me?
Or Julien?
Giselle offered her hand to the stranger.

He took her hand in his. When he placed his other hand over hers, he
smiled. Standing back, he held her hand up and bowed at her feet. “
Your
Highness. My name is Percy
Bovier
.
I am the acting royal head of the five families. We have waited many years for Your
Grace to come home. It is my honor to greet you and show you to your rightful
place in Cottonwood Landing.”

“You’re not afraid of me?”

“Should I be?”

He sure looked nervous. His hand was clammy and sweat beaded his brow.

“Uh—I—I don’t think so. I—” Giselle was at a loss for words. She turned
to Julien for guidance.

Julien held his hand out to him. “Mr.
Bovier
.
It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Julien Beaumont. I want to thank you for all
you did for my family when they sought refuge here.”

Percy smiled,
then
quickly hung his head. “It
is my one and only sorrow that I was unable to protect and keep your sister,
Joyal
, from harm. You have my most humble apologies.”

Giselle ran her hand down Julien’s arm in a show of support and
comfort. She hadn’t realized he would be reminded once again of his painful
loss by coming to the place where
Joyal
had been
killed. Her immediate reaction was to comfort him, but she needed to keep him
at arms-length. She didn’t think she could hold him without begging him to stay
with her. Giselle cast aside her own feelings and wrapped her arms around his
waist.

Percy offered her a slight smile, but a curious crowd gathered behind
him, and her mother stood gaping at her.

“A royal highness should not fraternize with a traveler! Their sole
purpose is one of protection.” Cecily spat, approaching the daughter she
shunned years before. With a petulant smile, she took her hand. “Once we remove
your taint, you will be the highest form of royalty. There will be no limit as to
what we can do.”

Giselle looked into her mother’s eyes, then to the hands that held
hers. Remembering the years of wanting and waiting for a mother who never came
back for her, she trembled. Recalling the tears of shame she cried over
believing her curse would someday transform her into one the evil beings that
invaded her mind through the veil, she shook loose of her mother’s grip.

“Hello mother. It’s nice to see you, too. As for
this
traveler, he has protected me. He deserves your respect. But
since you feel it necessary to converse in front of the coven, I think you have
some questions to answer. You left me for years believing I was a witch who
would someday rise up and slaughter my own kind. Why? Why would you do that?

“There are things you do not understand.”

“Then tell me this—who is my father? I want the truth.”

“I can’t tell you. Not now. Not here.”

“I am a powerful, gifted witch, mother. I know that now. And I can use
every ounce of that power to destroy you. I don’t want to do that, but I’m
prepared to get it out of you one way or the other.”

“Because you are hateful.
At the center of your core lies an evil
beyond your comprehension. And it must be destroyed before the moon cycles into
your twentieth year. You must let us help you.” Cecily held her arms out in a
plea to the members of the royal families as more of them made their way
outside.

Standing in a line, protecting Cottonwood Landing, the members of the
coven clasped their hands together in a sign of solidarity. Cecily continued to
speak to them. “A wicked man tricked me into an affair with his beguiling
powers of black magic. His hatred of me ran deep, even when he professed his love.
His intention was clear. He set forth to impregnate me with a child of royal
blood, mixed with the tainted blood of
Natas
. And he
succeeded.”

The coven members gasped at her words.

Percy stepped forward to address Cecily. “You will have this coven
believe that the blood of
Natas
himself flows through
the heart of your daughter?”

“Yes. It does. But I know of a great healer who can remove the stain
and set her free. He has promised us a lifetime of protection.” Cecily looked
at Giselle. “You must let us help you. If you don’t, you might as well throw
yourself on your traveler’s sword.”

Watching the members of the coven look to Percy for guidance, tears welled
in Giselle’s eyes at her mother’s words. Becoming weak in the knees, she
wrapped her arms around her torso. Her eyes sought out the one person whom she
trusted with her life.
Julien.
Helpless to say a word,
she watched him hoist a gleaming sword straight out in front of him. Pointing
the blade directly at her mother, he spoke loudly so the others would hear.

“You will tell this coven the truth. Haven’t you weaved enough lies to
last a lifetime?” His eyes sought out the members of the royal families. “I am
witness to the tenth power. Giselle is of the light. The witch Cecily lies.”

In a show of support, Percy stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Julien.

The members of the five families looked to Cecily. She grasped her pendant,
running past the gathering royals and into the sanctuary of Cottonwood Landing.

Grabbing Giselle’s hand, Julien pulled her along, marching after Cecily.
Without so much as a glance, he marched past the royals.

Some members blocked him, and whispers could be heard. “Don’t let her
breach the entrance.”

All it took was one look from the traveler. They recognized his
determination and moved out of his way. He strode into Cottonwood Landing
uninvited. Looking around at the massive estate, he followed his nose, tracking
her scent.
“This way.”

Giselle remained silent, listening to the whispers of the coven members
as they fell in behind them.

Slamming open the door to the room in which Cecily cowered, Julien walked
toward her. “So help me woman, you will tell the information, or I will bring a
wrath down on you. Coven or no coven, you will confirm what I already know and
tell your daughter the truth. You have been lying all these years, and for
what? You’ve turned your beautiful daughter, a witch to the tenth power, into a
sniveling mess. You stole the coven’s chance to watch her power grow and bear
witness to her massive blessings. And you kept her from knowing a father who
wants nothing more than to love and protect her.”

Cecily clutched the pendant around her neck. Pulling it from side to
side, she cried, shaking her head no. “You don’t understand. You know nothing.
Her father is a treacherous and evil man. He brought a curse down on us. I was
there, I know. But there is hope.” She looked at Giselle. “Don’t you see?
Leaving you was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but if I didn’t, you would
not be here today. I had to hide you, run away so
he
would follow
me
. I couldn’t
return to you. But I can help you when your magic comes of age. Please believe
me. Zacharias knew you would come back to Cottonwood Landing. He knows things
no one else could possibly know. You must trust me, Giselle. It is my fault you
carry this hex—please let me rid you of its consequence. You will be free. Free
to marry whomever you want. Free to roam wherever you want. Please trust me.”

Giselle stepped toward her mother, when she felt Julien reach out,
grabbing her arm to stop her. “It’s a trick, Little Witch.”

“It is no such thing,” Cecily spat.

“I know you do not speak the truth.” Julien turned to look at Giselle.
“I’ve met your father. He is a true warrior, a respected and gifted traveler.”

“Zacharias is the one and only witch who can break her curse.”

Julien shook his head. “No. It was you! You cast a spell keeping her
father away. Undo it. We, with the strength of the coven, will find the truth.”

Cecily furiously shook her head. “I cannot. Her father will destroy
her. He is not to be trusted. It
is
the spell that has kept him away all these years. That is why Giselle lives.”

“Hold on just a minute, Cecily!” The outburst came from the back of the
group.

Giselle was surprised to see Desiree, standing next to an unsteady, but
healed, Simon
Granvil
. She pushed her way through the
crowd. Colt
Wacumin
stood by, as well as two royal guards.
Leaning forward, she watched Colt whisper in Desiree’s ear. Desiree smiled,
then
got closer to them. “You know what? I learned a lot
about my heritage growing up in the quarter. Some say I paid too much attention,
but I knew it would someday pay off.”

“What are you talking about, you little fool?” Cecily snapped the
question at Desiree.

“I’m not the foolish one. I know Giselle’s father is Jacques
LaFeoure
, the traveler. What I don’t quite understand, and
perhaps you can tell me, Cecily, is why you would think yourself so powerful
that you could actually curse a traveler? They can’t carry curses unless they
were human when the spell was cast. And Jacques has been a traveler for over a
century.”

Percy could be heard agreeing. “Yes, this is true. A traveler is considered
under the wings of the master, thus making it impossible for a witch to impose
a spell on an immortal.”

Desiree stared at Cecily. A sarcastic smile sprouted along her lips.
“Told
ya
.”

Cecily’s eyes moved nervously around the room but she was silent.

Julien furrowed his brow, “Then what is it?”

Desiree smiled. “It is a spell.”

Giselle narrowed her eyes. “You just said a traveler cannot carry a
curse.”

“He can’t. For instance, Julien was cursed while he was human. Once he
became a traveler, his curse would have lasted his natural life and then been
broken due to his immortality.”

“I was cursed?”

“Selena Lovell
ring
a bell,
Cassanova
?”

Julien cleared his throat as Giselle smirked in his direction. “Moving
on,” he said.

“In case you were all wondering, my true calling is an auditory
clairvoyant.”

Giselle smiled, listening to the gasps of the coven members.

Desiree offered her a wink. “Along the way here, we stopped to visit the
cavern in which Giselle was born. I decided to do a little investigating and found
out a lot of interesting things. But, it was what happened just outside the
cave, when things really got interesting.” She looked at Cecily. “You, Cecily,
were duped.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cecily paced back and forth like a caged animal. “You are lying! I—I’m
sure of it. Zacharias cares for me. He wants both Giselle and I to join his
coven. He has protected me all these years. Why would he deceive me? What
purpose would he have to ask me to hide Giselle? Why?”

Desiree blew out a sympathetic breath. She sensed not only hatred and
anger, but sorrow. A sorrow that ran so deep in Cecily’s blood that Desiree could
actually hear her heart weep. And she tried to be more understanding of Cecily.
“I know you initially acted out of anger, and then fear. I think I can
understand how you must have felt. The truth of the matter is
,
you were loved a great deal by Jacques.”

Cecily wrung her hands. “If a traveler is under the wings of the
master, how can Zacharias know the things he knows about Jacques?”

Desiree slowly blinked her eyes. “Zacharias is a warlock who hosts the
soul of Jacques identical twin.”

“No. I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t believe me? Or you don’t want to believe me? A warlock can
take the form of any witch they kill as long as the soul is locked within
them.”

Cecily frantically nodded her head and pulled her pendant from side to
side.

Desiree continued. “Zacharias keeps Jacques from Giselle. Not you.”
But how?

Desiree watched Cecily frantically grasp her pendant. Looking to
Giselle, she watched her do the same. It was in that moment, Desiree knew the
truth.

“That’s a beautiful pendant, Cecily. Where did you get it?”

Holding it tight, she said, “It was a gift.”

Giselle held hers, as well. “From who, mother? You told me never to
take this off.
To keep it with me always.
It would
stop me from turning. Where did you get this?”