Witchling (Curse of Kin) (39 page)

Earth and water, air and fire,

Work ye unto my desire.

Wand and Pentacle and Sword,

Hearken ye unto my word.

Cords and Censer, Scourge and Knife,

Waken all ye into life.

Power of the witches’ blade,

Come ye as the charm is made.

Queen of Heaven, Queen of Hell,

Lend your aid unto the spell,

Horned Hunter of the Night,

Work my will by magic rite.

By all the power of land and sea,

As I will, so mote it be.

By all the might of moon and sun,

Chant the spell and be it done.

The wind outside roared its approval, and the clouds thundered against each other,. The power was raised for me. I stood bathed in a bright white glow, my skin hummed with renewed energy. I felt invincible, cherished, and vulnerable all at once. I could hear the following words deep in my mind as I glowed in the warmth that surrounded me.

Blessed be thy feet that have brought thee in these ways

Blessed be thy knees that shall kneel at the sacred alter

Blessed be thy womb without which we would not be

Blessed be thy breasts formed in strength

Blessed be thy lips that shall utter the Sacred Names

Bones’s lips gently touched mine, and I opened my eyes. I could not have stopped him if I wanted to when he started at my feet with the blessings. The gentle touch of his breath as he blessed my body left me rattled and strangely warm.

He was staring at me like he had never seen me fully before. Mari was pressing something into his hand, and I tried to look away from his eyes, but we were both frozen in the same moment. He picked up my right hand and placed a small gold ring upon my third finger. I watched him, unable to protest, not sure if I wanted to or even could.

“The ring is the five-fold symbol, Nera,” Mari said, breaking the spell that seemed to have taken over Bones and I.

I pulled my hand away from Bones and looked at the ring. There were five golden circles. Four of the circles overlaid one another with the fifth circle overlaying the first four.

“I will tell you briefly what the symbol signifies,” Mari said.”The four elements, the fifth being the spirit. All five create a unified and balanced power, power that you hold in your hands.”

“What kind of power?” I rubbed my fingers over the ridges of the circles.

“By tapping into the five-fold balance, your awareness of what is around you will be far greater than that of a normal god,” Mari said.

“Meaning what exactly?”

“The elements give off power. Call it energy, if you will. You will get a sense of that from now on, and the possibilities are only limited by your own sense of yourself.”

“You will be able to harness that energy as well as the energy inside of you,” Bones added.”You can use the elements in different ways now.”

I knew we were both thinking of the time that I abused the elements when Bones was trying to teach me. A small wave of shame washed over me.

“The spell you chanted first. What was that?” I asked Mari, pushing the memory away.

“That, my child, was the Witches Rune. It is used to raise power. That power is now yours because you have reached womanhood. Brian explained to you that since you have crossed the threshold from child to woman, you would indeed be more powerful.” Mari seemed oblivious to her son’s embarrassment. I could see the flush on his cheeks, and he was twisting his fingers together, listening to her talk. “You also have the added powers from your father. With that power comes more danger to you; hence the ceremony here today to help protect you along the path that was destined for you long before your birth.”

She leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “Be wise, my child. You have it in you. I have seen it. Brian, I take my leave again. Remain as always, my right hand.” Mari held him close.

“Jasper and Jack, thank you for your help. You know I will call upon you again my friends.” She kissed each of them on the cheek.

“Roman, come here, child.” She opened her arms to my brother. Mari spoke to him quietly, so that no one else was privy to their conversation. Roman nodded his head and smiled at what she said to him before she put him down next to me.

With a rumble of thunder, she was gone. We all stood silently for a few minutes.

“Well, that was quite something, Nera. How do you feel?”Jasper asked.

Bones watched me, no doubt waiting for me to berate him for touching me in such an intimate way. I didn’t trust myself to look at him. “I don’t know really.” I tried to sound casual as my body tingled under his gaze.

I approached Roman and picked him up and swung him onto my hip. Having him close made me feel safer. Or content. I couldn’t understand my emotions at the moment. I had never cried so many tears as I had in the last few weeks, and I was in danger of sobbing again when I remembered everything I had done.

“How much longer do we have to stay down there?” Brie called as she came into the library. “Sully is starving again.”

Brie and Sully stopped when they saw me in a dress.

“What’s going on?” Brie looked at me suspiciously. Seeing me in a dress was very unusual.

Jasper walked over, and lifting his arm, he put it around Brie’s shoulder drawing her into the room. “We had an unexpected visitor, Brie. Just as Nera defeated Edrith, Mari appeared and was so pleased with her that she did an impromptu ceremony. I’m so sorry we didn’t have time to get you and Sully from the basement, but she insisted it be done immediately.”

“Ooh, that is so unfair. I wanted to meet her,” Brie whined.

“I am sure we can arrange that at a later stage, Brie,” Jasper told her, effectively stalling any more complaints.

Dad and Bones helped explain how Edrith was beaten and sent to the Otherworld, leaving out the fact I had killed my father, for which I was grateful. The fewer people that knew what happened, the better.

Brie seemed to accept the story Jasper told her and was busy fluttering her eyelashes at him while he praised her protection spell. I would be eternally grateful we had found Brie’s talent. It had kept my brother safe. To me it went beyond the boundaries of normal friendship. Brie and Sully had stood beside me through all of this, and it made me love them even more.

Sully still seemed a little put out by missing the action and came to stand with his hand on my arm, eyeing Bones in the way that dogs competing for the alpha female often do. I laughed at the picture they made, my friends and my family, all safe. Everything else that had happened didn’t matter. Not just yet. We were safe. I had won this round.

B
IOGRAPHY

Ari Harper never wanted to grow up.

To offset the limitations of growing old ungracefully, she created her own set of unique worlds where she can be and do whatever she wants. God, demons and witches surround Ari while she spins her magic, mainly doing what they tell her to do.

She likes to work amongst chaos when given a choice, which is good because she is generally surrounded by children, all clamoring for attention. Some of them end up in her stories, some of them even get to die grisly deaths or be cast away to another realm.

Her favorite pet is a big black Labrador, Hugo. He stars as himself in the Curse of Kin series as Nera’s faithful hound.

Follow Ari on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/ariharper19

Follow Ari
http://www.ariharper.com/index.html

Twitter
https://twitter.com/AriHarper