Her Guardian's Heart (16 page)

“Then swear it to me before the goddess. Swear to me that you will let us go, or the goddess will strike you dead.”

He gritted his teeth and placed his hand over his heart. “I swear.”

The oath was binding. It was all a matter of time. “Good.” I stood and looked at the coven members. “I am Melina. I have traveled here to see if the goddess will accept me back within the coven. If she does, then I will lead you as high priestess, but if the goddess does not, we will go our separate ways.”

I sat in the chair and waited for the goddess to come to me. The elements washed over me. I opened my mind to the power and the goddess. The goddess descended when Charles summoned her. She stood before me. The coven could see her just as I could.

“High Priest, why have you called me?” she spoke to Charles.

“We have brought back your high priestess so that she may serve you and this coven.”

The goddess stared at me. She delved deep into my spirit. As she did, she changed. She was not the goddess I was used to. She was darkness incarnate. Neither good nor evil. She was the fourth face of the goddess that stood behind the other three that not many saw. She was the essence of death, the weaver of the tapestry, the power that was all knowing and all seeing. She would be a harsh judge depending on if my soul was worthy. I cried out at how she ripped me apart, looking at everything that I had been and I had done since I had first passed her tests.

“You once passed all of my tests and were considered to be the next high priestess of this coven. Then you were banished because the ones here did not understand your true destiny. This is one reason why there is no mixture of witch and Guardian allowed. It splits your loyalties. You stand at a fork in the road. Which path will you choose?”

“I have no love for this coven. The only one here that I forgive would be my mother. She is the victim in all of this. I am not meant to be with them. I choose to fulfill my Guardian role that you have laid out for me.”

“I thought that you would.”

“Will you have to strip me of my powers?”

The dark goddess smiled. “No. I will not take what makes you unique. But because you are turning your back on part of you, I can offer you a boon of good faith that you have not lost your way. You have acted well by coming here and facing your past.”

“What kind of a boon?” I asked.

She put her finger to her lips. “I will leave that as a surprise. Now awaken and tell the others that I have rejected your claim. Know that I will always hold you to my heart.”

“Thank you.” She left me behind and I opened my eyes.

When I did, everyone was staring at me waiting to know what my answer would be. I stared Charles directly in the eye. “The goddess has rejected my claim to become the high priestess of this coven. Thank you for the opportunity. It is now time that I return to my life.” I got up and started to climb down the stairs.

“You are
not
going anywhere!” Charles screamed. He pointed at me, and I was hit with a bolt of energy that pushed me backward into the throne. I didn’t have time to put up any protection and had the wind knocked out of me as if I had been dealt a physical blow. I shook my head and then focused on Charles.

“You swore that you’d let me go if the goddess rejected my claim for high priestess. You swore on her. I expect you to keep your oath. The whole coven heard it.”

“I know you sabotaged this. The goddess wouldn’t let you go that easily. You are the only one she has let pass the tests. You are the one that the coven needs.”

I stood up again. “Maybe what this coven needs is a new hierarchy altogether. Did you ever tell the rest of the coven what you did to me when I was a child?”

“This woman is an abomination to the goddess and to us. Don’t listen to a word she says,” Charles said to the coven.

The power of the coven gathered. I looked at their faces. They were completely under Charles’s control. He had warped their minds. Charles was working for the wrong side. Nothing was going to keep me from leaving here. I opened myself to the goddess.

“Earth and air, fire and water. Hear my cry. Great Lady above, heed my call. This one has turned from you. Help me to free this coven from his evil clutches.”

I glanced up at the dark moon and felt the powers of the elements fill me. The heady scent of the earth surrounded me and trembled beneath my feet. The smell of water filled my nose. The fire from the candles spiked high into the air. The breeze kicked up. The night filled me. The skin shifted and wings burst from my back. A collective gasp arose from the coven. I gathered the power and threw a condensed ball of it right at Charles’s chest. He staggered backward. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air. The fabric was burnt through and there was a black mark on his chest. He touched the wound and came away with blood. The darkness that enveloped the circle fell away. People were blinking. Charles screamed and the earth trembled. I jumped from the throne before it collapsed. My wings flapped and helped cushion my fall. I didn’t think that I could actually fly, but maybe I could. I figured the wings were a throwback to the angelic genes that I carried. I landed easily on my feet and felt the power that made me a witch and a Guardian. The rest of the coven gave us space. Charles stood. The evil inside of him drove him. He pulled back his hand and the earth split open. Before I could catch myself, I fell into the rift below.

The sudden rush of hot air gave me the lift that I needed to flap my wings and break out of the fissure. I landed before Charles. I called upon the earth and asked it to close. The chasm sealed upon itself.

“No more games, Charles. It’s time you step down from your lofty perch.”

“You’re the bird woman telling me to get off my perch. I wouldn’t be talking. Everyone, see. This is why she was sent away. She is an aberration to the goddess. Look at those wings. What true witch has wings? And black ones, at that. She has given herself to a werewolf for a mate. The only way for us to rid this coven of her evil taint is to give her in sacrifice to the goddess. What say you all?”

A hushed silence fell over the whole coven. The power died down in the circle. They looked at one another and were unsure of what to do next. “Before you pass judgment on me, open your eyes and see the true evil before you. When I was a child, Charles and two other members of the coven took me to this very altar. They said they had a special ritual to perform with me. They were going to molest me so I could be under his power. I admit that I caused the deaths of two people. That guilt has weighed on my shoulders ever since. He also ordered that I be killed. Instead of me, my friend was murdered. They wanted me out of the way. Two years ago, Charles sent a death squad, including my brother. Eric shot and killed my other mate. I lashed out and killed him too. I thought I had an evil inside of me, but it wasn’t evil. I am part angel. The goddess has chosen another path for me. I am no longer associated with this coven. Feel this out and ask the goddess. Feel the evil that Charles has been manipulating you with. Will not one of you step forward and face what this coven has been doing?”

After a few moments of silence, a young woman stepped forward from the second circle. Fear ignited her eyes. “I will come forward and stand against the coven. What she says is true. That is why she had not granted us a new high priestess. We all saw Charles swear to let her go if the goddess rejected her. The goddess turned her away. And yet we are doing nothing.” She pointed at Charles. The power was building again in the circle. This time it was from her and from the goddess above. The newcomer was enshrouded with the spirit of the dark goddess.

“You have defiled this place and the holiness of the coven. You pledged before all that you would release her, and yet you have tried to kill Melina. Charles, you have gone against everything I have ever taught. For this I banish you. I strip all of your power.”

“You cannot banish me!” Charles exclaimed.

The goddess held up her hand. “You will not and cannot tell me what it is that I do. This vessel will serve for my voice and my high priestess. For all of those whose hearts have turned, I take your power as well. And you, Charles, will burn for everything that you have done.” The goddess flicked her hand. Black flames encompassed him. Air was pulled from the coven. The circle was broken and the girl fell to the ground.

Charles screamed and raced into the woods. The fire didn’t touch the trees around him. The coven was free. I helped the girl up. The girl looked at me with wide eyes.

“I won’t hurt you. Neither will the goddess. She has chosen you. My mother can teach you to be the high priestess that this coven needs.” I took off the torque and the armband. I placed them on her neck and on her arm. She shivered when the power of the artifacts fused with her being.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

I led her to my mother. She opened her arms to the budding high priestess. She nodded at me. I nodded back and then went toward the house.

Chapter Eleven

When I arrived back at my mother’s house, I willed my wings back in. On the porch, Tannin stood over a prostrate form. Crace. Landon came out of the house, shirtless. The hole in his shoulder was completely healed. Crace had three long, parallel scars over his chest and another over his stomach. Tannin had his hand on Crace’s forehead. Blood was spilled over the porch, and I saw Landon’s wet hair.

“What happened here?”

“That asshole came at me!” Landon growled. “I defended myself and we got into it. He slammed me with a silver dagger in the other shoulder. I don’t remember much once the silver hit my system, just that the angel appeared, and then I passed out.”

I sunk down next to Tannin. I touched his arm. “What happened?”

“I felt your pain and Landon’s. I was with your grandmother. She had a mild heart attack. I came as soon as I could. I found Landon hurt and this one nearly dead. I tried to save him, but he was meant for the goddess, as you would put it.”

“He got what he deserved. Thank you for coming. Is my grandmother okay?”

“She’s fine. She had a vision of darkness surrounding you. It brought on the attack. I healed her, but I had to be sure that you were okay. Then I felt the pain. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to be connected to another. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. The goddess set me free of the coven. Another has been chosen. I am so ready to get out of here.”

“Me too,” Landon nodded.

“Are you going to leave so soon?” my mother said behind me.

“I don’t belong here anymore. We both know that.”

She came forward and then gave me a long hug. “I know. But I was hoping to get to know you now, after everything that’s happened. Maybe meet your new family.”

“Just because I’m going away doesn’t mean that we can’t still talk. I want you in my life.” I motioned toward Tannin. “This is the man, the angel, who showed me what I was.”

He held out his hands. My mother took his hands and squeezed them. She looked into his eyes and then smiled. “Thank you for letting her come back.”

“She was the one who made the choice, but it’s my pleasure to meet you. You are welcome at our house anytime. I can teach Melina a quicker way of traveling if she wants to come and visit you.”

“That would be wonderful.” My mother took me in her arms once more and gave me a strong hug. “I’ll come to see you soon. If that’s okay.”

“That would be great.” I pulled away and looked back at Landon and Tannin. They smiled and gestured toward the car. I climbed into the backseat and Tannin slid in next to me. I settled into the crook of his arm while Landon started the car. I met my wolf’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

“Don’t be starting anything back there, you two.”

Tannin laughed.”I won’t plan on it.”

“What was that comment about our house?” I poked him in the ribs.

He shrugged. I felt Landon’s gaze on us. “I was hoping that you might have a spare room I could move into, if that was okay with you, Landon? I find it hard to be away from our girl.” Tannin ran a hand down my cheek.