Divination (Spells and Sins)

Chapter 19

Chapter

Nineteen

"True power lies in knowing when to speak and when to remain silent."

Elysia

S itting outside of Morgana’s house, my heart broke in two for multiple reasons. I couldn’t get the utter betrayal evident in Lunara’s last words out of my head. Part of me just needed to be alone, but I also knew that Morgana would not take kindly to seeing Lunara.

I wasn’t sure why she held such a deep hatred for Lunara. Was it just because she was fae? Was it because we were of the same sex and getting romantically involved? I knew Morgana didn’t want me mixing magic with her, which…

Oops, too late .

But was that the only reason?

Wiping my tears away, I looked at all the cars parked around Morgana’s. They were all waiting for me. She’d told me to meet her here so we could all carpool over to Thalia’s. Rowan was already over there working to secure the area and ward off any evil that may be lingering. With her knowledge of herbs, she was a huge asset to the coven.

As I went to turn off the car, something on the radio caught my attention. I twisted the knob to turn the volume up, leaning in to listen.

“...and craziness has ensued. Several arguments have broken out between townsfolk in downtown Hallow Ridge Grove this evening. One such altercation ended in a stabbing and two women have already been arrested. Authorities are uncertain of what to make of this strange turn of events, but the mayor is calling for a 10 o’clock curfew tonight…”

I shut the car off and thanked the gods that I’d left downtown before all that had started. Did it have anything to do with the darkness creeping in? Did it affect humans differently? I knew there was a power greater than our coven and humans weren’t supposed to know about the existence of magic. But what would happen if?—

“Oh no…Lunara,” I whispered as I stared out the windshield at the leaves blowing across the road. I’d left her without transportation, but she’d been well on her way out of the area beforehand. With no cell phone, I had no way to contact her to see if she was alright. My only hope was that she’d made it far enough away from the area before chaos ensued.

Slowly pushing my car door open, I ground my teeth as it creaked in protest, wondering if it cried out in an effort to prevent me from going inside. The goddess knew I was dragging my feet without my car’s apparent objection. It was time to get this over with, however. I only hoped Lunara could find the orb and set everything right between our two worlds before someone else got killed.

After trudging up the driveway, I knocked on the door lightly. It instantly swung open and Morgana’s eyes widened in response, before looking beyond me.

“She’s not with me,” I said softly. I didn’t have much left in me to even argue, let alone explain.

“Come, girls. We should get going. Rowan’s waiting.” Before I could enter, Morgana ushered the rest of the coven out the door. She brought up the rear of the group, but stopped to stand beside me on the porch, arms crossed. “Did you drop her off in the woods by your house like I asked?”

I side-eyed her, but remained calm despite wanting to tear her heart out so she could feel the way I did right now. “I didn’t have to. We went our separate ways after visiting downtown looking for clues.”

“Good, good.” She nodded sagely, like she held all the wisdom in the world. I didn’t know who she was anymore. She didn’t act like the mentor I had grown up with. I never thought she’d be such a hypocrite. She’d always preached inclusivity and acceptance of others, yet she’d shunned Lunara.

Morgana couldn’t even do it to her face either. She’d acted like everything was okay, asking for her help when she needed it, but when she was out of sight, she chastised me for even talking to her. When all of this was over, and the town was hopefully saved, where did I stand in the scheme of things? I was no longer sure if I wanted to stay in this coven.

When I remained silent, Morgana pointed to her car. “You can ride with me.”

What she wasn’t saying was she wanted to keep an eye on me. She viewed me as a liability. Nervously rubbing my forearms, I wondered if she could sense the fae magic swirling inside of me, mixing with my own, and changing me for the better. Lunara was the best thing that had ever happened to me and I’d abandoned her.

I bit my bottom lip to keep the tears at bay as we descended the porch stairs and divided up among two cars.

At Thalia’s house, the mood was somber, which was to be expected. We’d just lost another friend and coven member. She’d been found at the edge of the woods, no tracks, no trace of how she’d gotten there. Not even any drag marks. It’s like she’d been tortured in midair, but then dumped on the ground when whatever had taken her had had their fun.

Morgana stood at my right side, Rowan on my left, and the rest of the coven created a circle within the salt that had been poured around the body. A single candle rested by Thalia’s hands, the flame flickering in the autumn breeze.

We’d created a sacred space to send off Thalia’s spirit into the afterlife. I wished we could have known what had happened, but without any concrete evidence of whether it was a human or something supernatural, we couldn’t get the authorities involved.

Rowan had wiped down Thalia’s body with rosemary, sage, and lavender to help cleanse her body and soul, protect it from evil, and send it off on a good note. Hopefully the cleansing process also made her less of a cynic. An eternity with her attitude would be exhausting.

Morgana leaned down and dripped moon water onto Thalia’s forehead. “May the sacred moon water purify her soul and guide her in her transition to the spirit realm. Tonight, we honor Thalia Moonstone. She was a caring and empathetic individual. She loved deeply and without judgment. She was an excellent healer and great student. She will be truly missed.”

I choked back a snort. Thalia may have loved without judgment, but Morgana sure didn’t.

Morgana raised both hands into the air. “Let us connect as one, solidify our circle, and send off Thalia properly!”

We all joined hands and began our incantation.

"By the light of the moon and the warmth of the flame,

We send you onward, free of pain.

Through the veil, where spirits dwell,

May you find peace, and fare thee well.

So mote it be."

The flame flickered out on its own, sending a trail of smoke into the air to eventually fade away. Thalia was gone. I did have a few fond memories of her and I’d still miss her.

“Rowan, Aeron, and Cassia will stay behind,” Morgana commanded after closing the circle. “The rest of us will head back to my house to prepare for our Circle of Remembering.”

She guided the chosen few of our coven back toward Thalia’s house and out to the driveway. Rowan, Aeron, and Cassia were left with the daunting task of burying our departed coven member. Back at Morgana’s we would gather, cook and eat food, and reminisce about the stories of our fallen sister.

I slid into the passenger seat of Morgana’s car and realized no one else occupied the back seat. Swallowing hard, I knew the ride alone with her would be tense.

Morgana shoved the keys into the ignition, but paused as she turned to me. “I hope you’re happy.”

“About what?”

“Cavorting with that fae is probably what brought this darkness to our town.” The engine roared to life and Morgana revved it several times in her anger.

“ What? ” I stared at her in disbelief. “This is not her fault. That mysterious darkness was outside my cabin before Lunara even showed up at my door.”

“I’m sure the darkness followed her here.” Morgana pulled out of the driveway and turned toward her house just up the street. “You can’t trust the fae.”

Morgana was way off base, even if I could shake the feeling that Lunara was keeping something from me. We hadn’t known each other long, but she’d been open and honest up until the tunnel.

What had changed?

“Nothing to say to that?” Morgana asked.

I rolled my eyes, refusing to look at her. “Not that you’ll want to hear.” I squeezed my eyes shut against the onslaught of grief. “I think it’s best if we keep our thoughts directed at sending Nova and Thalia off with our head in a better space.”

Morgana’s expression softened. “Blessed be.”

Everyone processed loss differently, but Morgana was our high priestess. How did she not feel like she’d been hit in the gut twice with all of this? She should be just as teary eyed as me. Probably more. The optimist in me wanted to believe that she planned to have a breakdown later about it and was barely holding on by a thread? But who could tell?

After she parked behind Isla in the driveway, we sat in silence for a moment. When she shut the engine off, I went to reach for the handle but Morgana called my name, pausing my exit.

“You know I only have your best interests in mind.” She placed her hand on my shoulder. “I worry about you.” Suddenly, her hand was ripped away as if she'd been bitten by a snake. “I can still feel her on you.”

Using Lunara’s words from earlier, I nonchalantly shrugged. “It’ll fade.” I exited the car and bolted into the house trying to avoid anything else she wanted to talk to me about. If it had to do with Lunara, I was leaving. I couldn’t take anymore of her incessant lectures.

Morgana brushed past me and nodded toward the second floor. “There’s something I want to show you.”

Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, I white knuckled the railing. “What?”

She turned around halfway up the steps. “I found some old photos of your mother I thought you’d like to have.”

My heart lurched in my chest. I missed my mom so much and I didn’t have many pictures left of her after the house fire.

How much more heartache was I going to endure tonight?