A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums (Lilith and Co. #1)

Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

A fter a hearty breakfast of fruit, oatmeal with pecans, and a plant-based sausage, along with copious amounts of coffee, the three of us put our heads together trying to figure out any new powers and getting a good handle on the ones I already had.

That was the plan. Where to start, though?

“What can you do?” Lily Joy asked to get us going.

“I have taser fingers. When I want to shock someone, I press my fingers on them, and an electric current moves through them.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Trust me, she’s not kidding,” Connor said. “I’ve seen her in action. It’s amazing.”

“Thank you,” I said, smiling stupidly back at the man.

“You caught me on a good day,” he replied, winking. “She can manifest her desires. That’s so convenient.”

“‘Convenient’?” I asked sarcastically. “You wanted to pull your hair out the first time we figured out that ability.”

“Right. Because I was trying to keep you safe. But then you took me into Luc’s office to have your wicked way with me. After that, I loved it.”

I rolled my eyes at him, snickering. “You’re a pig.”

He shrugged. “ Oink .”

“Oh, yeah—I’m definitely ready to meet my mate,” Lily Joy said, almost to herself.

“It has its perks,” I replied, startling her.

She sort of jumped as if a thought had just come to her and asked, “Is that all?”

“Well, you know I can talk to ancestors. So I can do witch magic.”

“That’s a very good start.” She pulled out her pendulum from her sweater pocket, making me feel like a very inadequate witch. She kept her pendulum right on her at all times? I didn’t even own one. “I think we should ask your spirit guides. They should be able to tell us a little more.” She excused herself to the kitchen and came back out a few minutes later with a small, clear, glass bowl with water in it and I saw some pink granules that hadn’t disintegrated yet.

“Moonwater?” I asked.

She nodded. “And Himalayan pink salt. To cleanse my energy from the pendulum. It’ll help you connect with your spirit guides better.”

Lily Joy dropped the simple gold-plated object into the water and we gave it about five minutes.

“Now you pick it up and hold it between your hands to imbue it with your energy,” she directed and I reached into the bowl of water to retrieve the thing by the chain. I held it between my hands and waited. “Don’t forget your protections.”

“What kind of protections?” Connor asked as Lily Joy sprayed a rosemary spray around the room.

“Witch wards,” she answered, and I nodded. I knew a thing or two about witch wards.

So I cleared my throat and said, “Only spirit energy with my greatest good is allowed in this safe space. All others must go.”

“That takes care of demons and any other manner of supers who might want to find their way in here?” asked Connor.

“Only if demons try to jump in from Hades,” Lily Joy replied. “If they come in human form, it doesn’t work. You need a different set of wards that involves a blood sacrifice. It’s not pleasant—oh, remember yes or no questions.”

“Got it,” I said. “Is my spirit guide here with me?” The pendulum swung in the ‘ yes ’ position. “Can you whisper your name in my ear?” Again, it swung in the ‘ yes ’ position, and I heard the name Lilith whispered in my ear.

“Grandma?” The pendulum swung in a huge yes arc. “You’re my spirit guide.”

“‘Grandma’?” Connor asked. “You mean Lilith— the Lilith is your spirit guide?”

“It appears so. Have you met your great-granddaughter, Lily Joy?”

Then I heard, “Tell her I’m proud of her,” whispered in my ear. “I check in on her whenever I can.”

“Uh… Lily Joy, Lilith says she’s proud of you and that she checks in on you whenever she has the chance,” I told my cousin. Lily Joy’s face lit up with pure happiness. “If I can hear you, is it possible for me to see you, too?”

“Make it happen,” Lilith said and that shocked me. I could make it happen all by myself?

“What did she say?” Connor asked.

“That I can make it happen.” Then I began to manifest my desire for all of us to see and hear Lilith. After repeating and repeating it in my head, a beautiful woman with long, flowing, raven-black hair stood in the middle of us. This was her. Lilith. I’d recognize her anywhere. Both Connor and Lily Joy gasped.

“You look so much alike,” Connor said. “It’s uncanny. My mate is the spitting image of Lilith.”

Lilith turned her smile onto my mate. “My granddaughter’s mate. You come from a long lineage of protectors,” she said. “Your ancestor rushed in to help my family when Adam launched his attack.”

“Seriously?” He pulled me into his arms almost reflexively. “That’s amazing.”

“The universe had granted him a small amount of magic and he lived with my family and me, learning more. We had no idea transfiguration was one of his powers. But he saved the life of my second-oldest daughter by changing into a large, snarling beast dog while I was getting my Simone and Simeon to safety. When I returned, he had taken out several of Adam’s men. He married my daughter, joining our family.”

Lily Joy looked between Lilith, Connor, and me. “That’s unbelievable.”

“It’s beautiful,” Lilith added. “Adam turned men against us, convincing them to harm any magic holders. Once again, if he couldn’t have it, then no one else could. Adam was the biggest mistake the universe ever made. The only good that ever came from that man was my Peter and Shoshana. My beloved Shoshana didn’t survive the attack. But my Peter did. And you, my dear, Lily Joy, are the product of his union. I’m blessed to know you.”

A tear slid down Lily Joy’s cheek.

“When magic holders were forced into hiding, that was how the Baghests entered into service. The universe tasked them with protecting magic holders in their hiding spot, which the mortals deemed Hell, to scare any off from seeking magic holders out.”

“So it’s a PR game,” I said and my grandmother smiled at me, nodding. “Do you know who Beetle is?” I asked then, bringing this fun conversation back into the serious realm.

She shook her head. “Their magic is cloaked. I cannot sense who is behind it.”

“Cloaking magic? Is that something I can do?”

“We don’t yet know the full extent of your powers, my Simone. Whoever this Beetle is, they’ve somehow harnessed powerful magic. No magic holder should have the power to block me. I am the embodiment of magic in humans. When I left the garden, the universe saw fit to give small amounts of magic to those deserving of it, a sort of checks and balances.”

“Checks and balances?” Connor asked.

“Can you believe that the universe feared that I’d be the one to go off on a power trip?”

“The universe didn’t plan that one too well,” I replied.

“So what should we do about her powers?” Lily Joy asked.

“If an idea comes to you, then try,” Lilith said back. “The universe is whispering its secrets to you. But I’m not privy to those particular ones. I am sorry.”

“Are… Are my parents around?” I asked. “Can I speak with them?”

Lilith smiled and nodded. Two people, a man and a woman, appeared together and my eyes immediately filled with tears. “Oh my god,” I whispered. Connor’s arm squeezed tighter.

“My beautiful Simone,” my mother said. “Isn’t she beautiful, Baruch?”

“She’s a vision. Hello, my daughter.”

“Dad?” I threw my hand over my mouth to stifle an ugly sob.

“I’m sorry we were not there for you as you grew. We would have never left if we could have helped it.”

“You died trying to protect Mom. This is all on Adam. Not going to lie, I hate that I have any of that man’s blood running through me.”

“Magic was an experiment for humanity,” Lilith said. “The universe tracked my ability to yield it. The garden was created to make sure that no one was hurt should it go wrong. If Adam had been a good man, then I may not have wanted to leave. But the universe knew there were people ready to receive it. Thus, I had to want to leave.”

“But he took everything from me,” I protested. “You, my parents, my brother. I grew up completely alone when I could’ve had a family if it hadn’t been for him.”

“Oh, my dear girl,” my mother said. “You have a family.” She looked to Connor behind me, then to Lily Joy. “Your family is now. It is in your future. The children whom you will one day hold in your arms.”

“Only if we can defeat Beetle, which I’m not so convinced?—”

“ No ,” Lilith said sharply. “Do not manifest negative thoughts. You will defeat him. You must.”

I sighed. “ Will and must are very different, Lilith.”

“This is a lot for her.” Connor defended me, and yeah, despite our rocky start, I felt his love in every word. I wouldn’t tell him this, but the universe picked well. It still made me salty that Adam had taken away my birth family. That I spent my youth scared and alone. But if I’d lived out my life with Baruch and Shoshana, I wouldn’t have been alive to meet Connor. Life had its tradeoffs.

“I’ve been watching you with my daughter,” my father, Baruch, said.

I blanched. “Not at all times, right?” I asked, feeling a bit green.

He smiled in knowing indulgence, appearing to hold back a laugh. “No, Simone. There are some things a father does not need to know about his daughter.”

“Thank god,” I mumbled.

“Given that you’re here, sweetheart, I’m pretty sure he’s aware of how things work between mates.” Connor kissed my temple, then, and I scowled.

“I know that. But what if he popped in at the wrong time? Say, Luc’s office? Ring any bells?”

He nipped my earlobe. “I’ll never forget it.”

“Standing right here, son,” my father clipped and I threw my head back laughing.

“Call us whenever you wish to talk,” my mother said. “But our energy is waning. We need to recharge.”

“I’m not ready to let you go,” I admitted.

“You’re not letting us go,” Lilith said. “We’re always with you.”

Before our eyes, my parents and grandmother shimmered and faded out of view.

Lily Joy sighed. “I wish I had that power.”

“Do you know you don’t?”

“I guess not.”

“Well, we should try. But if you can’t, I can do it for you. Say, if you wanted to meet your parents.”

Her eyes shimmered momentarily as if she were holding back tears. “I’m so glad you came into my life,” she answered and I took that as a ‘thank you.’

“I have a feeling you’ll come to eat those words,” I answered, deciding that we needed a little levity in the room again. Knowing everything we were about to charge head-first into, I needed to surround myself with as much happy as possible to take with me when things got decidedly not happy. How were we supposed to defeat an enemy if we didn’t even know where to find him or what exactly he was after?

“Not possible,” Lily Joy countered, thankfully cutting into my dwindling levity. “Whatever is coming, at least I have you and Connor. After spending my life alone…” She didn’t need to say more. I totally got where she was coming from. But again, we couldn’t go back there. We had each other now. Moving forward, neither of us would be alone ever again. Not unless we wanted to be.

I clapped my hands together making Lily Joy jump, and I even noticed Connor give a little start. Maybe I might have gotten a bit of enjoyment from that, but I’d admit to nothing. “Right,” I said abruptly. “So, I can speak to spirits.”

“And make them visible for the non-Simone around you to see and hear,” Connor amended. “That has to be a rare ability. I’ve known supers all my life and never heard of that ability.”

“Neither have I,” Lily Joy agreed.

“So what do we think it means?” I asked.

“It means we need to make sure you’re really familiar with your powers,” Connor said. “Because if we’ve never heard of them happening to other supers, then chances are good we can take Beetle and his men off guard.”

“Ooh… true,” Lily Joy said, nodding her head. A smile spread across her face. “This is going to be fun.”

Fun? Debateable. I think Lily Joy and I had differing ideas of fun at the moment. Connor was right, though, I had to get familiar with my powers.

We spent the day working on the abilities that I knew I had, paying special attention to witch magic. I figured some good spellwork might come in handy in the coming days. Beetle was cloaking himself from even Lilith seeing him. How did one go about cloaking their identity from the likes of the first witch?

Beetle had to be super powerful to accomplish that.

The three of us worked until my head ached too badly to go on. When I looked at the time, it was well past lunch, edging toward rounding the far side of the dinner hour. My belly took that time to grumble loudly.

“We need to stop,” Connor said.

“Do we have time?” I snapped.

“If you make yourself ill, then you won’t do any of us any good,” he argued back.

“Normally, I’d cook, but I’ll order us something,” Lily Joy offered, probably to get us to stop bickering.

“No need.” I waved my hand in the air. The next thing I knew, we heard pans clanking in the kitchen. The three of us walked in there, already smelling the mouthwatering aroma of meatloaf.

Lily Joy walked over to the stovetop. “There are mashed potatoes.” Then she pulled open the oven door. “And there’s the meatloaf along with dinner rolls. If there is a salad in the fridge, I’m never letting you go.”

“Why not manifest the food on the table?” My mate asked.

Oh, really? I rolled my eyes. “Because I can’t keep carrying you, Baghest. Now, be a good boy and set the table.” That could’ve gone one of two ways. He could have found me cute and endearing or I’d taken my life in my hands.

Thankfully, Connor walked over to the refrigerator, yanking the door open. “Oh, Lily Joy, FYI, you’re never letting her go,” he teased. Good. I really didn’t have the energy to fight with him right now. Okay, that probably meant I shouldn’t have started anything with him then, but exhausted or not, I still had to be me and few things gave me more enjoyment than giving Connor a hard time. “Thank you, babe,” he said. “You thought of me with the salad.”

“What does he mean?” Lily Joy asked.

I wrinkled my nose at the memory. “He only eats— healthy —food when I’m not around. Can you believe he left me stranded at his apartment with only fruit and protein bars? It was torture.”

Both Connor and Lily Joy laughed. I tried to laugh, but I still felt like crap.

“No more magic today,” Connor ordered. “The food smells amazing, but you’re as pale as a ghost. You need to rest.”

Yeah, I wouldn’t openly agree with him—no sense giving the man a bigger head than he already had—but he was right. I ate my body weight in meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad, and dinner rolls. Lily Joy whipped us up some super yummy coffee drinks, the ones that tasted like dessert. And by whipped them up, I meant the traditional way. As in, she used her hands, corporeal ingredients, and a blender.

I offered to help clean up, but she and Connor refused. “You cooked, babe,” he said as he chuckled. Oh, he thought he was so cute.

“Then I’m going to go lie down.”

No one objected. I went upstairs, changed into a T-shirt that I manifested, causing my stomach to go queasy for a moment, and then fell face-first into bed. Although it took a lot out of me at the moment, I couldn’t help but smile at how easily the manifestation came to me now. Part of me couldn’t wait to find out every one of my powers, while the other part knew that these powers showing meant I’d need to use them at some point to save us, to save everyone.

We had so much practice ahead of us if I was going to feel ready enough to take on Beetle and stand a chance of winning.

Universe, please help us.