Trial by Fire (Covencraft Book 1) (11 page)

“She’s still holding you off,” Dr. Gellar murmured in amazement.

The machines attached to her screamed their alarms in some sort of electronic protest. Her chair began to tremble. No, not just the chair, it was the ground. The ground was shaking. Then, the air in the room began to swelter. She couldn’t think. She just needed to think, just five seconds and she could figure this out, she knew she could. A sharp pain began to pierce her brain, behind her eyes, making her squint, blurring her vision. She needed to stop, she needed it all to stop.

“Fuck off!” she yelled. There was a loud popping sound and Paris stumbled backward, a stunned look on his face.

The ground stopped trembling and the temperature began to drop. The humming ceased immediately.

The pain in her head was still there, unfortunately. She yanked the sensors off her fingers and started ripping electrodes off her head, not caring that she was pulling out some hair with it.
Out, out, out.
She had to get out, get away.

“You pushed me back,” he said with astonishment.

“And I’ll do it again,” she said, although she had no idea what she was talking about.

“No one has ever pushed my power back.”

Paris turned from her to Dr. Gellar who could only shrug as she checked the machines.

“She got you,” the doctor said.

Jade pushed herself up out of her seat and locked her knees when they threatened to buckle. Paris stepped forward to help her and she flinched back. “Don’t touch me.”

“I didn’t mean to anger you. When we need to test witches, this is how we do it. We use the fire to test your conjuring power, then water, then earth and air. Then we have another witch try to wash their power over you, to glamour you, so to speak. Your power rating is based on a number of variables, who was testing you, how you responded, how long it takes before you lose.”

“But you won,” Dr. Gellar said.

“It wasn’t meant to upset you, Jade. I apologize.”

Jade swallowed hard as a wave of nausea rushed up her throat. She bent over a bit, taking in deep breaths.

“Are you okay?” Dr. Gellar asked, leaning in, making a motion to put a hand on her back. Jade stumbled again. She didn’t want anyone touching her right now. She went around the back of the chair, putting it between her and the others.

The pain in her head was gathering momentum, spreading like a cold shard of ice melting through her grey matter. She felt a cold sweat break out on the top of her lip and she pressed her hand against it. Paris took a step toward her and she jerked back. He stopped, his hands in front of him in a non-threatening manner.

“Jade?”

She wiped her hand across her face, staring down at the bright streak of blood. She touched her fingers to her nose and they came back covered in red.

“Doctor,” Paris said quietly as he reached over to one of the cupboards and pulled out a small towel, holding it out for Jade. Her hand shook as she snatched it from him and pressed it to her nose.

“I’m fine,” Jade said finally, pressing the towel to her nose. She looked up and saw both of them staring at her. She didn’t want them staring at her, watching her closely. She took another step back, hoping she’d hit a wall soon, any wall. Something to put her back against.

“You’re not fine, you’re bleeding,” Paris said calmly as he looked over at the doctor as she studied the readings and jotted notes.

“Jade, you appear to be experiencing an atypical reaction to using magic. I’d like to run a few additional tests.” She began to prep the machines again.

“No.”

“What? Oh, it won’t take long.”

“The answer is still no. I’m tired of being poked and prodded today. Go get another trained monkey if you want to run more tests.” Jade pulled the towel away from her nose, patting it back and checking for new blood. It appeared to be slowing. She swiped at her nose a few more times and then sniffed, tentatively certain it was done bleeding. In response to the lingering spike of pain throbbing in tune with her heart, she pressed the heel of her hand against the bridge of her nose.

“Does your head hurt?” Dr. Gellar asked.

Jade gave her a ‘well duh’ look. “Like someone stuck a fork in it.”

“I really wish you’d let me run some more tests. I don’t know what using magic is doing to your brain. I’ve never had a witch have a reaction like this before.” Gellar looked over a Paris, uncertainty obvious on the sharp lines of her face.

“I said no more tests today,” Jade repeated hotly.

It didn’t matter what Paris said or didn’t say. She didn’t miss the slight shake of his head that Paris gave Gellar, nor Gellar’s dejected shoulder slump. Gellar stepped away for a moment and came back with a bottle of water. Jade took the cold bottle and pressed it against her forehead. She saw a medical laundry basket and tossed her bloody towel in it from where she stood.

“Okay,” she said finally. “What’s next?”

“You can take a few more minutes.”

Jade glared at him, her headache making her more churlish than usual. “I don’t need a few minutes.”

“It’s been a long day. How about I take you to where you’ll be living and we’ll call it a night?”

That sounded like a fantastic idea to her. She was tired, she felt gritty and worn thin after the testing and whatever the hell had just happened. A hot shower, maybe some food and some sleep sounded awesome.

Gellar handed her a card and she took it with numb fingers. “I want you to call if your headache gets worse or you have any other problems,” she said, stepping into Jade’s space and placing a hand on her shoulder. Jade looked down at the doctor’s hand and then up at her face. Gellar pulled her hand away quickly.

Paris held out a hand to gesture her out of the medical unit and Jade kept a wide berth around it as she moved. She got the impression that he would corral her by placing a hand on her lower back if she let him get close enough but he made no move to get closer and she didn’t have to dodge out of the way of his touch.

He led her back down the long hallway to the stairs and didn’t say anything when she took them slowly, leaning on the railing. She could feel his eyes on her the entire way, though, and his presence hovering close by. There weren’t as many people about as there had been before but she still felt numerous eyes on her as she made her way back downstairs.

Paris stopped by Henri’s empty desk and she heard him say something low and quiet in a language she didn’t understand. A desk-drawer slid open and there was an envelope with her name sitting on top. Paris opened it, dumped out the keys inside and then slid the drawer shut. He murmured again and she heard the soft ‘snick’ of a lock sliding into place.

His car was still outside, parked right in front of the Covenstead and she wondered if he had some kind of special permission to park there as the leader or if it just didn’t matter. She was so tired, her mind bounced from unimportant question to inane details like how she didn’t even know where the closest grocery store was.

There was more room in the car than before and she noted that all of Callie’s bags were gone, leaving only her luggage in the back seat and presumably Paris’ bags in the trunk. She wanted to root around in her carry-on for a sweater, as a chill settled in on her shoulders - but she couldn't be bothered.

Whether he was feeling cold as well or noticed that she was, Jade wasn’t sure, but Paris turned the heat on in the car as soon as they rolled away from the Covenstead. She leaned her head against the passenger window, eyes half open on the scenery outside but not really cataloging any details.

Paris thankfully didn’t talk to her as he drove. She tried to pay attention to where they were going, the street names and the turns they took, but her eyes were drifting shut. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she heard her name being called. There was a quick touch on her shoulder. She jerked awake and sat up in her seat.

“We’re here,” Paris said lowly.

She looked up and noticed they were in front of an old cottage-type house - two stories, but cozy. It appeared to have been painted within the last couple of years and while the door and the windows seemed worn, they looked sturdy enough.

“I thought I would be in a hotel?” she asked.

“If you’re going to stay here, you’ll need some place to live.”

“I might not stay,” she immediately replied.

“Then you may as well be as comfortable as you can be while you’re here,” Paris said smoothly. Before she could answer, he was out of the car and pulling her bags from the back seat, leaving her with nothing to carry. He unlocked the front door for her and then handed her the keys. She followed him as he stepped inside and set her bags down in the small entryway.

“Would you like me to stay for a bit? Show you around or answer any questions?”

A jaw-cracking yawn that she didn’t even feel coming was her response. She blinked owlishly at him and he suppressed a laugh.

“I’ll take that as a no,” he said with an amused tone. “I believe there’s food in the kitchen and an assortment of amenities about. But if you need anything, you have my card from before?”

She nodded.

“I’ll be by in the morning to take you back to the Covenstead. Say around eight?”

She shrugged. “Okay.” God she was tired. She might even skip food and just face-plant into the closest horizontal surface.

“You’re not feeling any worse from before are you? Headache getting worse or anything else?”

Her head still hurt but it was lessening - more like a regular headache now than the icepick pain of before. “No. M’okay,” she mumbled.

“Well,” he said somewhat hesitatingly, “I’ll leave you to it.” He paused, awkwardly reached out and patted her once on the shoulder. He then left through the front door closing it quietly behind him.

She stood alone in the entry way and did a small, uncoordinated circle, looking about.

Her first impression of her place was that it was soft. Soft colors, soft fabrics, soft furniture. There was a large overstuffed chair and a matching sofa stationed in front of a voluminous fireplace. A shallow mantle ran over the fireplace and on it were some candles and a few innocuous knick-knacks. She could see the start of a kitchen through a partial doorway - kitchen table for two, subdued curtains, some appliances. She thought about heading that way and scrounging something to eat but it seemed far away and onerous. She grabbed her bags and started heading upstairs, hoping to find a bed in the first room she came across.

Success!

It was a small master bedroom with a little ensuite. She used the hand soap to wash her makeup off, not even caring that it made her face feel tight and dry. She fumbled in her carry-on for her toothbrush and toothpaste and, after the most cursory brushing, she stripped off her jeans and wiggled her bra out from underneath her t-shirt. She crawled onto the bed and sighed at how soft it was, wrestling the cover from underneath her and tucking herself in. At the last moment, her eyes snapped open and she found the nightstand and bedside clock, fumbling in the dark to set the alarm. Once that was done, she let out a sigh and then flopped over onto her side.

Jade’s mind started racing as soon as she closed her eyes. Witches, covens, spells and magic. Her thoughts became disjointed and jumbled as fatigue dragged her down. The last conscious thought she had before she fell asleep was that she felt something tickling her brain. She wondered if it was all the magic in the air, clinging to the Covenstead and city.

Chapter 6

The knock came at seven forty-five the next morning. Holding a hair elastic in her teeth and her coffee cup in the other hand, Jade opened the door. Paris stood there looking as immaculate as the day before – almost like he was spared the morning routine, with all its hustle.

She took the elastic from her mouth and handed him the coffee cup. He looked down at it.

“Don’t drink it, just hold it,” she said quickly, putting her hair up in a ponytail, smoothing over any stray bits. She took the mug back from him unceremoniously. “You said eight.”

“It’s nearly eight.”

“Nearly eight and eight are two separate times.” She knocked back the rest of her coffee in two big swallows. “Do I need anything for today?” she asked.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”

“I had hoped to have someone show you around the Coven. I have some meetings to attend, so I can’t do it myself. Then, perhaps, meet you for lunch or dinner to see how you are doing.”

“I like Henri,” she said immediately as she pushed her sunglasses on. Not that she knew anyone in the Coven or who he had in mind but Henri fell directly in her ‘safe’ category, like Francis at work did. He had been excitable like a puppy, but gave off an entirely harmless vibe.

“I’m sure he’ll be delighted,” Paris replied with a quirk of his lips. He gestured her outside and she grabbed her purse and key as she left, locking up. “He stayed at work for three extra hours just to get a glimpse of you, so he’ll likely vibrate when I ask him if he can show you around.”

“So tour and then maybe lunch and then maybe learn some magic?” Jade asked hopefully.