Of Fate & Forbidden Desire (The Gatekeeper Duet #1)

28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I really hope we can trust the Coven… - Charleene

“ P LEASE, HELP US!” I screamed into the wind, hoping it travelled across the field to the line of people watching us. The snow was falling faster, making it hard to see them properly as my eyes beseeched them to aid us.

A blur flew past me and the snowflakes swirled, connecting the people to us in a straight line. Glancing back at Jace cradling Ally to his chest, I noticed Dina was no longer standing with us and when I returned my focus to the people I saw her standing before them. She waved her hand violently towards us and I wondered what she was saying to them, as Jace got to his feet.

“Come on,” he commanded, urgency ringing in his dull voice as he stepped up beside us with Ally in his arms, “I need them to save her, she can't heal herself.”

Unable to do anything else, I offered him a nod and began striding across the field. I'd only taken a couple of steps when my hair flew around my face, covering my eyes. When it died down, I found I'd been left to cross the field alone. My heart ached, making it hard to breathe as I felt slightly abandoned. I knew that's not the case, but it still hurt that no one walked beside me. The line of Witches congregated around Jace as he reappeared before them.

I let my tears fall, feeling a little selfish that they weren’t solely for Ally, however I couldn’t help that little voice of doubt from telling me that no-one wants me. Years of being abandoned would do that to you I guess. I sniffed as a cold hand slipped into mine, making me jump as Dina materialised next to me .

“Ally will be ok now.” She said, misconstruing the reason for my tears. I didn’t correct her, but I felt a little lighter as she accompanied me the rest of the way towards the Coven that first abandoned me.

Reaching them, I realised there weren’t as many as I'd first thought. A mixture of ten men and women met me with curious stares as I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks and attempted to find my cheerfulness again. But so much had happened so quickly that I failed.

“Your friend will be ok now, our most talented healer is with her.” A kind voice informed me, drawing my attention to a young woman. She had the same colour hair as me, but looked to be a few years younger as I nodded.

“What should we do with them?” A woman who looked to be my own age asked.

“You belong to the Nicnevin Coven?” Dina asked in return, getting straight to the point.

“We do,” the younger woman answered, her brows rising in surprise or suspicion, I couldn't tell which.

“We must meet with your Coven Elders, I'm Adrina, a Huntress of the London Vampire Coven.” Dina explained, making more murmurs rise around us as she continued, “I've been tasked with meeting them.”

“Very well Huntrees Adrina, we shall take you with us. Do you have your own car? Our Coven is not here.” The young woman replied curtly.

“I do.” Dina said, matching her curt tone.

“The injured woman and her partner will travel with Julie, our healer, you two can follow us in your own car. We will drive to Leanach and make our way to our village from there.”

She turned to a man and woman stood beside her to whisper something, and when she turned back to us, they left, jogging back the way they'd obviously come.

“I'll come with you.” The young woman announced, making me uneasy, and I began to question if meeting the Nicnevin Witches was really a good idea .

The drive to Leanach was tense and silent. Part of me worried about Ally and the other part was terrified at the thought of meeting my birth family. What was I supposed to say to them? Hey, I know you didn't want me but here I am. I snarked in my head as my nerves rattled. By the time we pulled through a gated fence which had a sign proclaiming it to be ‘private property.’ My nerves were frayed and my leg bounced uncontrollably, as my heel tapped on the car floor.

“You ok?” Dina questioned as I stood from her low car.

Am I ok? I wondered.

“Just worried,” I said quietly, attempting to swallow down the butterflies that were trying to escape from my stomach.

“I won't let anyone hurt you.” She promised, meeting my gaze steadily as the younger witch joined us.

“This way, it's still a bit of a walk.” Her tone was still icy. I guess it wasn't often that a hidden Coven had visitors after all.

She hadn't offered up her own name, and to be fair, neither I nor Dina had asked her what it was, so we followed in silence. The small private car park led to a padlocked gate, which in turn led out onto a wide field, full of brown wild flower stalks that swayed in the wind. The snow that had been falling was more like sleet now, and made the trek to the Coven's village truly miserable. I'd just opened my mouth to ask our guide how much longer when the first wooden house came into view.

My eyes widened further with each step we took towards the houses. They were a mixture of one and two storeys high, with cute wrap-around porches attached to them and there are at least sixty, if not more.

“The Mother and Crone are awaiting your arrival,” the woman around my own age said in greeting as we walked through the straight grassy streets, between houses.

“Thank you Sophia, we'll go straight to them.” Our guide said, her voice losing some of its frosty edge. “And how are our other… guests?” She asked, seeming to pause over what to call them.

“The woman is being tended to by Julie and the male has not left her side. We managed to get them inside before anyone saw them.” Sophia answered, matching our guide's pace.

My fear over Ally's well being tampered a little at her words. It seemed that there was hope my new friend would survive the attack on her. I exchanged a glance with Dina as we continued following Sophia and our guide to a large wooden building in the centre of their village. The Coven was definitely bigger than I'd been expecting and I couldn't help but wonder why they were so secretive. Sophia walked ahead and held open one of the double doors for us all to enter.

The building was almost empty, with a few witches and warlocks from Culloden Moor milling about. However, my focus was on the two women sitting on the small dias set up opposite the doors. One looked to be about fifty with a few laugh lines and wrinkles near her eyes; we had the same eye colour, and other than the few strands of white in hers, our hair also matched in colour. The second woman was older, stooping a little with her narrowed eyes surrounded by wrinkles. Their colour was a washed out version of my own. Am I related to them? I thought as we drew closer.

There was an empty chair on the other side of the middle aged woman, which to my surprise our guide strode up to and sat in demurely.

“Merry Met, Huntress Adrina and our lost daughter… Charleene,” the middle aged woman paused before my name and her eyes shone with unshed tears.

“Why have you sought us out?” The older woman continued, her eyes narrowing further when they met mine.

“We have three reasons, the first being that the London Covens were concerned with your disappearance, our second reason is that the London Coven of Witches thought you may know of a way to send lost Ancients back to where they belong.” Dina's voice rang out loud and clear, even as murmurs began around us.

“Ancients?” Our guide questioned, with a glance at the woman next to her .

“The Fae who travelled with us, they are currently with your healer.” I piped up, my voice wobbling a little as the Crone pursed her lips at me, giving her face a sour look.

“And the third reason?” the Mother inquired.

Stealing my spine and keeping my head up straight, I answered clearly, “I'm the third reason.” The first two women's eyebrows raised in surprise, whereas the Crone's face remained the same. “I was given for adoption at birth, and until recently I believed I was human. However I am a witch and the London Coven believed that I belong to the Nicnevin Coven.”

I summarised my story, keeping it short and making no assumptions as I addressed the three women. My stomach fluttered uneasily as they looked at each other.

“As you can see, the Nicnevin Coven is fine and healthy, so you can report that back to your Covens and thank them for their thoughts.” The youngest said, when neither of the others answered, “You have given us much to deliberate on regarding your other reasons.”

“Thank you for meeting with us, I will inform my Coven.” Dina said with a small respectful nod.

“Sophia will show you both to one of our guest houses—”

“What! You're sending us away?” I snapped, my temper rising at their dismissal as I interrupted the one I suspected could be my Mother. “All my life I've wondered who my birth parents might be, who my mother might be and you're not even going to discuss it with me.”

I knew I should have kept myself in check but I had the funny feeling that my “Mother” was looking at me right now and dismissing me like I didn't matter.

“We shall discuss the other matters.” The Crone's voice snapped out like a whip, startling me. “You are dismissed.”

Sophia stopped before her Coven elders, bowing her head, before ushering both me and Dina from the large house .

“Are all Coven elders so rude?” I grumbled aloud as Sophia walked in front of us.

Dina let out a choked snigger that she tried to disguise as a cough, when Sophia glanced at us over her shoulder, "Our Elders are wise and never act rashly.” She informed us.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply otherwise, I'm just frustrated.” I told the woman honestly, making her pause and turn towards us.

“Were you really raised as a human?” Her voice wasn't unkind and held no judgement, however for the first time in my life I felt less than for my upbringing.

“I was.”

“I'm sorry, I just can not understand why a witch would be sent away as a baby.” Sophia said, her cheeks tinting pink, with her embarrassment.

“I don't know why I was either, but I would like to understand.” I told her truthfully, drawing a small smile from her.

“I'm Sophia,” she introduced herself, holding out her hand towards me.

“Charleene,” I answered with my own smile as I shook her hand.

“Is it true!” A woman's desperate shout drew all of our attention further down the street, where a short portly woman strode towards one of the many houses.

The two witches outside didn't even glance at her as she attempted to get in their faces by standing on her tiptoes, “Who is in there?” She shouted. “You'll let me in this instant!” She continued making demands when she received no answer.

“Ah, news travels fast in our Coven,” Sophia said by way of explanation as we walked towards the woman, who was now attempting to forcibly move the other witches out of the way.

“Lilah, please calm down.” Sophia greeted the irate woman, keeping her own voice calm.

“Did you say Lilah?” I ask, recognising the familiar name.

“Yes, she came to us for help months ago,” Sophia tried to explain but Lilah was already shoving her aside .

“You know of me?” She asked, “How?” Both questions came flying at me so fast they almost gave whiplash, as Lilah changed direction and stood before me.

“Ally has spoken of you many times,” I told her, watching as her eyes widened, before they narrowed again.

“Where is she?” She asked suspiciously. “Was she with Jacin when you saw her?”

“We travelled with both of them,” I began but she cut me off with another eager question.

“Where are they now?” Lilah's voice shook and tears gathered in her eyes.

“Ally was hurt in a battle, the Coven brought her here with their healer.” I said, not shying away from the truth. I had the feeling she wouldn't want me sparing her feelings.

“Hurt how?”

“She'd been stabbed through the stomach with a demoran blade.” Dina took over explaining when words failed me.

Lilah's hands flew up to cover her mouth, stifling the sob that broke loose. "He’s definitely found her then?” She asked no one. “Where is she? I need to see them.”

I looked at Sophia, as I had no clue if Ally and Jace were in the house beside us or not.

“They’re inside with Julie,” Sophia said quietly, motioning to the house with the guards.

Lilah flew around on her heel at Sophia's words, marching back to said guards and demanding they let her through.

“Let her in.” A woman's shrill voice shouted from within and the guards moved aside, allowing Lilah to disappear inside.

Baffled, I shared a look with Dina. So that was the Lilah who Jace and Ally had been searching for. For such a short woman she was kinda terrifying.

“I'll show you to your own guest house, please follow me.” Sophia said, collecting herself and waving us on.

“You have a lovely village,” I complimented, wanting to break the silence that settled around us.

“Thank you, we've stayed here for longer than most other places and have been able to make it our own.”

“How long have you been here?” I was intrigued. “It must be hard having to move around so much.”

Sophia shrugged before answering, “It’s all I've ever really known. Some of the elder witches find it harder, they remember when our Coven was more settled. But we've been here for the last year.”

“Why does your Coven move around so much?” Dina asked.

“Unlike the other Covens we like to live together, so moving allows us to keep our way of life without drawing suspicion.” Sophia answered like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Don't the other Covens live together?” I wondered aloud.

“No, they tend to mix into human cities and villages, coming together on the main pagan holidays.” Dina explained as we walked towards a small wooden house, with only one floor.

“Here we are, sorry it's small, however we don't get many guests and so our guest houses are limited.” Sophia said as our feet thudded over the wooden floor. “This one only has one bedroom.”

“That's ok,” I reassured her, giving a small smile as I walked past her and into a gorgeous looking house.

The front door let you straight into a large living area that had little in the way of furniture. There was a comfy looking sofa, a couple of paintings hung on the walls beside a small bookcase and a TV hanging above the log burner. An open plan kitchen sat to the side of the small living space, stocked with a fridge, cooker and microwave.

“The bedroom's back here and has an ensuite bathroom,” Sophia said, walking towards a door on the back wall of the living area, next to a large log burner. “The burner will give you limited hot water, but it takes time for it to warm the tank, especially at the time of year.”

“Keep showers short,” I said, nodding along and following her into the bedroom. It was smaller than the living room, with a double bed taking up most of the space and a thin wardrobe standing next to the door.

“There's towels and extra sheets in the wardrobe and a chest of drawers in the living room. And through here is the bathroom.” Sophia continued with her tour. “That door over there leads out into a small garden,” Sophia pointed at a door next to the bed, that I hadn't even noticed.

“Thank you, it's wonderful,” I said with a wide smile.

“Right, well I'll let you get settled. Do you need any help retrieving anything from your car?” She asked politely, pausing in the bedroom doorway and looking back at us.

“No thank you, I'll bring everything over.” Dina replied as I looked around the room again, while she escorted Sophia back to the front door.

The bed had smooth white cotton sheets and had so many pillows I wondered how anyone could possibly sleep with them all. There were thick rugs covering the wooden floor on either side of the bed. Opening the back door, I peeked out into the small garden and inhaled the mixed scents of the herb garden I found there. It stretched across the length of the house's wall, running under the small window, making me wish it was warmer so I could leave the window open and smell their fragrances.

Sadly I closed the door and went to the small bathroom as Dina walked back in.